Two of a Kind
by Nexus44
Summary: Samantha Malfoy (Scorpius' twin) and Mike Weasley (Rose's twin) are about to begin their sixth year at Hogwarts, but this is no ordinary year. What starts as a mysterious discovery and a suspicious new student quickly becomes something dark and sinister. Secrets will come to light, loyalties will be questioned, and hearts will be broken, but not everyone will make it to next year.
1. Prologue

All was quiet in the streets of downtown London. An occasional halo of light flickered from the few street lamps along the road, barely impacting the pitch-black darkness of the night. It was so dark, so quiet, that no one noticed a young boy slinking through the shadows. The cover of nightfall made his job easier, and this night was no exception. Within minutes of leaving his "home" he had reached his destination, without a single incident. He thought back to the time when a few men had stumbled out of a pub, utterly intoxicated, and they figured it would be fun to pick on the boy they found. He had no choice but to use force, although it wasn't like he didn't enjoy the rush of a duel, the feeling of magic pumping through his veins, the power that a simple phrase of words could possess. He fingered the wand in his pocket; he almost wished that there was someone, something, out tonight so that he could use the magic and actually feel something and let down the cool façade he had to wear around his cohorts. He glanced left and right before jiggling the door knob of the imposing brick building. _Why is it locked? _He thought_. Unless… _There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. If what his instincts told him was true (and his instincts were never wrong) then he knew something very important was being planned inside the room, and he figured that the plan would involve him risking his own life just to fill someone else's expectations of what he should be. He was accustomed to people trying to use him, especially if they knew who his father had been, and he had learned that instead of trying to fight those people, it was easier just to keep quiet and do what they wanted. He had not survived this long on his charm alone. He was cunning and clever, using his youth to his advantage, and quite a powerful wizard as well, but those who discovered his strength didn't live long enough to utter a word about it to anyone else. He pulled out his wand and whispered, "_Alohomora._" The rush was short this time because he had performed such a simple spell, but it gave him the confidence to push open the door and step inside.

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**A/N: Hello, dear readers! Welcome to my brain, which is where the world of Two of a Kind came from. Actually most of it comes from the wonderful J.K. Rowling, but still! Thanks for reading, and I hope you stick around for the whole story... it's going to be interesting... very interesting. *insert evil laugh here***


	2. Potters, Weasleys, and Lupin, oh my!

**Disclaimer: Just admitting that I only own my original characters, and everything else belongs to Lady Rowling, that genious!**

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**[Mike]**

"Ahhhhhhh! Get up, Mike! Mikey! MIKE! If you don't get your sorry self out of bed right now, I'll-"

"Okay, okay! I'm up!" I sat up quickly, greeted by my darling twin sister's angry scowl. I knew not to mess with her when she used what I liked to call her 'over-protective mom voice'. Last time I didn't wake up when she yelled, she resorted to waking me the Muggle way- a good old bucket of water poured on my face. But simply waking me from my glorious slumber apparently wasn't enough to satisfy her.

"Do you even have any idea of how late we're going to be?! GET UP ALREADY!" She then proceeded to smack my arm repeatedly until I got out of bed.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," I responded sarcastically as I stood up, to which she just rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Rosie. It's not like we've been doing this for five years or anything." I reached down and ruffled her hair like I did when we were little. It never failed to make her smile, even if she did pretend to be annoyed by it.

"Alright, Mikey. Just get ready quickly! We need to leave, I don't want to miss the train!" Suddenly cheery, she all but skipped out of my room and threw a last remark over her shoulder with a smirk. "Don't forget to brush your hair. You look like you're a Potter." She shut the door and I laughed to myself. Rose always had to get the last word.

I walked down about 10 flights of stairs, considering that we were staying at the Burrow for our annual End-of-Summer family reunion, which involved all the Weasleys, the Potters, and Teddy. Along the way, I almost got ran over by Lily, who was laughing as Albus chased her around the house. James, Teddy, and Fred II were talking animatedly with George, who was probably helping them plan how they were going to prank their next victim. Rose was braiding Roxanne's hair and gossiping with Molly and Lucy. I don't know why girls find enjoyment in doing each other's hair; I mean, it's just hair. Hugo, Louis, Dominique, Percy, and Bill were watching Ron (yes, he is my dad and Hermione's my mum, for those of you who are a little dense) and Harry play Wizard's Chess, but everyone knew who would win *cough* Ron *cough cough*. Victoire and the women were all chatting in the kitchen and making a nice, big English breakfast for all of us. Gosh, it's great to be a Weasley.

"Breakfast is ready!" There was a moment of silence where everyone stopped what they were doing upon hearing Grandma Molly's shout, then we all scrambled into the kitchen like a herd of starving cattle.

In about 3 minutes flat, which must've been some kind of record, all of us were seated around the giant table and eating to our heart's content. We all had our 'spots' at the dinner table: Grandma and Grandpa were at the head and foot; George and his family were at the far right end, along with James and Teddy; Bill's family was sitting next to them; next came Percy, his wife Audrey, and their two daughters, Molly and Lucy; then my family, and then the Potters, which meant that I was sandwiched between Rose and Albus. Across from me, Dad was shoving every kind of food near him into his mouth; it never even touched his plate.

"You are such a pig! Do you ever stop eating?!" Mom teased him lightly with a shove.

"mffh cuffh I dffh!" He responded in mock outrage, but no one could understand him with his mouth full of food, and we all had a good laugh at his expense as friendly chatter started to fill the room.

Farther down the table, I noticed that Teddy was laughing half-heartedly, even though his best mates, James and Fred, were still laughing after most of the laughter died down, and we soon found out why. Dominique had a bite of her pancakes halfway to her mouth when her food literally exploded in her face and covered her in a menagerie of paint from head to toe.

"Ack! James, Fred, Teddy, you guys are going to pay for this!" Dom screamed, her big blue eyes narrowed and blond eyebrows drawn down. I don't know which was more hilarious-the murderous look on Dom's now pink, red, and yellow face or the fact that she had already spent two hours getting ready and wouldn't have enough time to change so now she had to arrive at Hogwarts looking like 20 different cans of paint had spilled on her. She stormed outside angrily, dripping paint where she walked, as if she was some slug that left a trail of colorful slime behind her. The image of Dom as a slug made me crack up all over again-Dom was the girliest, most dramatic girl I knew-she hated anything that crawled, slithered, or could get her clothes dirty.

But even after the successful prank, Teddy still looked like he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He wore a scowl that was quite unlike the smirk that usually lit up his face, his normally bright blue hair was a darker, almost black shade of blue, and his once golden eyes were now a dark brown. Since Teddy inherited his mother's Metamorphmagus powers, his hair and eyes reflected his mood. I was surprised that no one had questioned him about his stormy appearance yet.

"Hey, Ted," I called cautiously across the table. "What's got you looking so blue today?" I laughed at my clever pun. He glared back at me with such shocking intensity that I stopped laughing immediately.

"Like you don't already know," he spat with surprising venom in his voice.

Grandma Molly cleared her throat, interrupting my glare-off with Teddy. "Kids, do you have everything packed and ready to go?" Her voice was loud and she clearly meant to stop the possible fight before it began.

"Yes," James started to say. "I made sure I packed everything yesterday-ow!" Fred jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow, then leaned over and whispered something in his ear. James' eyes widened slightly with understanding then he cleared his throat awkwardly. With a fake smile now plastered on his face he replied, "I mean, um, what I meant to say was that I, uh, need to go pack some more shirts! Yeah, shirts..." And with that he left and almost everyone muttered an excuse to leave the room, but knowing my family, they were probably waiting just outside the kitchen and eavesdropping with baited breath.

Now it was just me, Teddy, Rose, and to my surprise, Lily. I had expected Rose to stay and play the role of 'peacekeeper' but I wasn't sure what Lily's motives for staying were. I noticed that the room was suddenly much quieter than before, practically silent, the only sound being my heart pounding in my chest. Teddy never shouted at anyone, never raised his voice, so when he did get angry, all his emotions he bottled up inside erupted out of him like a super volcano, and I had to admit, it was quite frightening to see Teddy all riled up.

"I-I'm not sure what you're talking about, Teddy. Did I do something wrong?" I tried to stay calm.

He gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "Ha, that's a good one, Mike. 'Did I do something wrong?' " he mocked. "Not me, poor, innocent, prefect-stealing Mikey!" I swallowed nervously in anticipation of the Teddy-explosion that I knew would soon come, with the direction this conversation was going.

"Wait a minute-" Lily interjected. "Mike's a prefect?!" Rose gasped and had a hurt expression on her face, making me feel the sharp stab of guilt. Rose and I were always very open with each other, but when I received my prefect badge in the mail, I hid it from her. I just wanted us to stay as close as we had been through the years and I thought that me being a prefect might create a gap between us.

"What, darling Mike didn't inform you of his new position? The position that he _STOLE _from me!" Teddy started to raise his voice and his hair was slowly beginning to turn from dark blue to bright red.

"So what if I'm a prefect? Maybe Neville finally came to his senses and made a smart choice this year!" I raised my voice back at Teddy. He was really getting on my nerves with this whole Prefect business.

Teddy merely looked amused and gave me a smirk. "You might want to look in the mirror, Mike. Because your nose is looking a little..._ brown."_

I scoffed. "Are you implying that I bribed him?! If that's what you think, Teddy, then it's a good thing you didn't get Prefect. We wouldn't want someone who's gone off the deep end running Gryffindor, now would we?" I smirked back, arms crossed over my chest. We both knew he was being ridiculous.

"You think you can run Gryffindor, little Mikey?" It really annoyed me when he called me 'little'. He was only 10 months older than me, after all. "I'd like to see you try," he continued. "How are you going to cooperate with your fellow Prefect when you can't even say 'hello' to her?"

My face reddened. "Don't talk about something that you don't understand!" I shouted. Rose and Lily exchanged a nervous glance. They knew that the other Gryffindor Prefect, Samantha Malfoy, was a touchy subject for me.

"Oh, I think we both understand what's happening, or, more accurately, not happening with you and Sam. Typical 'you-like-her-but-she-doesn't-know-you-exist' situation. You know," he mimed thinking to himself by stroking an imaginary beard. "If you're not going to make a move on Sam, I might stop playing around and date her for real. She's quite a looker, isn't she? We certainly had a lot of alone time together as Prefects. Just the two of us, all alone at night..." He trailed off suggestively and winked at me with a falsely pleasant smile.

"She deserves way better than you! She's out of your league, so just stay away from her!" I yelled angrily, my fists clenched at my side.

"Or what?" He teased. "You're going to 'teach me a lesson'?" I couldn't take it anymore.

"Yes! Yes I am!" In a flash I angrily whipped out my wand and pointed it straight at his chest.

"Oh boy!" He laughed and pulled out his own wand almost lazily. What an arrogant git. "You want a duel, Mike? Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you when I knock you on your arse!" I didn't have to answer. We both started to shout a spell at each other, when Rose suddenly went into ninja-attack mode and shoved Teddy roughly to the ground. Apparently she was stronger than I thought.

At the same time, I heard Lily shout, "MIKE, NO!" at the top of her lungs. She tackled me from the side and my head slammed into the floor with a sickening crack. I tried to sit up, but a stormy ocean suddenly surrounded me, filling my vision with its black waves. The water was slowly rising; it was now at my neck and as I shouted for help, the dark, churning water filled my open mouth, my screams cut off as I coughed and struggled to breathe. The last thing I remembered was Rose's blood-curdling scream echoing in my head and then I was pulled under the water, watching the light from the surface fade away into inky darkness as I drifted towards the ocean floor.


	3. Sam Malfoy aka the Oracle

**Disclaimer: Admitting yet again that I unfortunately do not own anything from the actual Harry Potter series.**

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**[Sam]**

I was having a lovely dream where I was sailing through the air on my new Firebolt, completely free from everything and everyone. Then a brief flash of white, and I was in a different dream, or more accurately, nightmare. If I had been awake, I would've groaned. I knew this dream. It had happened almost every night for the past three months, right after my sixteenth birthday. I frantically tried to wake myself up, mentally pinching myself on the arm, but to no avail. I attempted to direct my thoughts away, but the roar of the crowd was starting to fill my ears and I knew I had been sucked into my all-too-real and all-too-recurring dream.

I was hovering on my new Firebolt , guarding the three tall hoops behind me as my eyes surveyed the field in front of me with the precision that comes from 5 years of practice. I took in the brilliant green grass of the Quidditch pitch underneath me, the huge crowd sitting in tall bleachers that surrounded the oval field, the red and green blurs speeding back and forth around the field, the slight breeze that ruffled my uniform, the sun burning the fair skin of my face. It was a picture-perfect day. _Not for long, _I remembered, and my memory was all too accurate. Everything around me appeared to be happening in slow motion while one of the red blurs suddenly tumbled off his broom and plummeted towards the ground. It seemed as if everyone was frozen in shock. I tried to fight the dream and fly over to catch him, but as always, I could do nothing but sit and watch helplessly. I braced myself for impact, throwing a hand over my eyes but barely opening my fingers so I could still see. I didn't want to see him fall, but at the same time, I was too curious not to watch. Right when his face was about to smash into the ground, the dream twisted and I watched from the shadows as a boy that looked very similar to the one who fell waltzed out of a very sketchy-looking building in the middle of the night. He abruptly turned back around in the doorway before leaving to talk to another man. I could never make out either of their faces, although the one in the building was always dressed impeccably in an expensive suit and tie, which seemed odd considering the condition of the house he was in. They shook hands stiffly, then the boy disapparated away and the dream warped as if I were apparating with him. When my vision finally focused, I found myself in the Hospital Wing, sitting by the bed of a boy who laid there, unmoving and barely breathing, with vaguely familiar reddish-brown hair. For some reason, I felt compelled to reach out and hold his hand, silent tears falling down my face. Who was this boy, and why was I crying? I was a Malfoy, for goodness sake, and Malfoys aren't supposed to cry; crying shows weakness. I gazed down at his pale, freckled face and heard his shallow, uneven breathing. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized that he wasn't likely to make it through the night. As I closed my eyes and leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek, the dream morphed yet again. The stark whiteness of the Hospital Wing was replaced by a shadowy corridor, and I found myself standing on the tips of my toes, reaching up to kiss a different boy. Our lips touched and I felt warmth spread through me, all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes. Mere seconds had passed when I heard voices coming from around the corner, but I was too giddy to care. That is, until I heard someone whisper, "Sam? Is that you?" They sounded hurt, as if I had betrayed them by kissing this boy. I hastily pushed myself away from the boy, annoyance clear on his handsome face as I turned to see who had caught me. The dream twisted again, but not before I glimpsed a tall ginger boy and a short girl with long red hair. Confusion and fear shot through me as I realized that the dream was not over. Confusion because I had woken up after the last scene every time before now, and fear because I had no idea as to what the dream had in store for me. Now I was intrigued at the thought of a new scene in the dream, and when the world stopped spinning, I looked around cautiously. I was in some creepy abandoned dungeon, and I had a bad feeling about being there. I saw only two light sources in the room, one was from the wand bobbing along next to me and the other was shining from my own wand that I held rigidly in front of my body. I suddenly heard maniacal laughter, the kind of laugh that an evil scientist from the movies would have, and I shivered. I couldn't quite pinpoint where the laugh came from, and I was genuinely scared, which didn't happen all that often. I pressed myself closer to the person with me, and they moved so that we were now standing back-to-back. It was the best strategy we had for protecting ourselves from a threat that seemed to be omnipresent. Suddenly, a bolt of bright green light shot out of the shadows, straight at me. I was frozen in fear like a deer in headlights, my brain not processing the fact that there was a deadly spell heading straight for my heart.

I jolted upright in my bed, and- _wham! _The top of my head hit my ceiling, hard, and my vision swam in front of me. Taking a moment to calm my still-racing heart and holding my head in my hands, I mentally scolded myself for sleeping on the top of my bunk bed last night. Yes, I was 16 and slept in a bunk bed. I felt like it gave me the freedom to choose, even if it was only choosing where I slept, and Dad had never given me any kind of freedom at all. I had fought my dad- I mean my _father_, as Draco Malfoy preferred to be called- I had fought so hard to even get a Muggle item into our house as a kid that Mom caved and bought me the bunk bed I wanted. Luckily, my father's parents didn't know anything about that. They were strictly against Muggles and Muggleborns, just like Father was until my half-blood mother managed to convince him otherwise. She was the only one who was ever able to change his stubborn mind.

My twin brother suddenly burst into my room, throwing the door wide open. "Sam! Sam, are you okay?" He looked frantically around the room until he saw me sitting in my bed, watching him with a faintly amused expression.

"I'm right here, Scorpius," I replied calmly, although it was hard to appear calm considering I was drenched in sweat, my hair was all disheveled, and I probably was still a little pale from _almost getting murdered _in my dream. My eyes widened as a thought crossed my mind. _If I had died in the dream, would I have actually died in real life? _ I shivered at the possibility. The dream had been so vivid, so realistic, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had affected me in the real world. I tried to clear such morbid thoughts from my head. It was the first day of my sixth year at Hogwarts, after all. I was supposed to be excited, not sick to my stomach!

"But… you were screaming your head off," he continued on. "I heard you screaming and I thought someone was hurting you or you had hurt yourself-" I rolled my eyes and half-nodded at that. He didn't know how right he was- I was very accident-prone and it had happened before, just like a few minutes ago when I had banged my head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He finished, out of breath from talking a-mile-a-minute and running up the stairs into my room.

I smiled brightly, despite the fact that I was beginning to develop a very severe headache. "Aw, Scor! Were you actually concerned for me?" I placed a hand over my heart with a gasp. "You actually care about me? Scor, this is all moving so fast!" I 'swooned' back onto my bed dramatically, then after a few seconds I jumped off my bed to the floor, landing semi-gracefully in front of him.

There was a ghost of a smile on his face at my theatrics, then he returned to the emotionless mask he always wore. "Psh, no. I was not _worried_ about you." I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. "I just wanted to shut you up so I could go back to sleep." He, too, crossed his arms and looked pleased with himself for coming up with such a 'brilliant save'. Heaven forbid, Scorpius might actually be concerned for someone other than himself!

"Whatever, Scor," I said as I put my hands on his shoulders and looked into his now cold, and emotionless gray eyes that were an exact copy of my father's, and mine. "I know that deep down, way deep down inside the part of your black soul that's still capable of emotion, that you really care about me, your darling baby sister." He smirked and chuckled, which was as close to laughter as Scorpius could get.

"You see, Sam, that's where you're wrong. The thing is…" he trailed off, suddenly serious, his smirk gone. He stepped away from me and looked me straight in the eyes. Opening his arms wide, looking almost proud, he finished his sentence by saying, "I don't have a soul." And then with a surprisingly cheery and obviously fake smile, he leaned over and pinched my cheek. I swatted his hand away and scowled as he strolled out of my room. What a drama queen.

I moved to close my door, since he apparently 'forgot' to, when I suddenly found myself sprawled out on the floor. _What in the world? _I tried to clear the ringing in my ears as I slowly stood back up, using the wall for support. I decided that I had just tripped over my own feet again. Unfortunately, my fall had only worsened my headache. Who could've guessed that when you hit your head, it hurts? And yes, I tend to be extremely sarcastic when I'm a) tired, b) annoyed or c) in pain. Today, I was d) all of the above. Fantastic.

My internal clock was still working though, so naturally, I figured that we'd be leaving for King's Cross soon and I attempted to ignore the pain as I got ready to leave. Thankfully, I managed to make it down the stairs without further injuring myself, even if I had to half-crawl down them and put all my weight on the railing to insure I couldn't fall again. I was just glad that my family was already outside and didn't notice me crawling down the stairs like a wild animal while trying to drag my trunk along behind me.

My all-black cat, Mystery (Mysti for short) bounded gracefully down the stairs after me. She then sat right in front of me, fixing me with her light blue gaze, as if she was saying, _What are you doing on the floor, silly? Get up! _I pulled myself to my feet and wheeled my trunk behind me out the door. I glanced over my shoulder to see if Mysti had followed me out, but didn't see her behind me. I turned back around and there she was, just sitting there grooming herself in our yard. Crazy cat. She always seemed to disappear and then reappear out of thin air, like magic.

"Sam, darling, do you have everything packed?" My mother's voice interrupted my thoughts. Mom was always so worried that I'd forget to pack something important. I wasn't _that_ forgetful! Okay, maybe I had forgotten to bring soap and shampoo my first year. But it was first year, I mean, everyone forgets something their first year! Still, Mom felt the need to make me a checklist of everything I needed to bring every year since then. The list was actually quite helpful, not that I'd ever admit that to anyone.

"Yes, Mom-" A stern glare from my father cut me off. I sighed. "I mean, yes, _Mother, _I made sure I packed everything, as usual." She just smiled in response, a hint of laughter in her green eyes, like she was remembering my first year all over again and still viewed me as the little energetic 11 year old who had to have her mother's owl bring her shampoo from home because she had forgotten to pack it.

Mom took Father's hand and then reached out her other to me. I was forced to offer my free hand to Scor, who just looked at it like it was diseased. Mom cleared her throat, looking pointedly at him and then my outstretched hand. He grabbed it with a pout and blew his bangs out of his eyes sullenly. He hated showing any kind of what he thought could be perceived as affection towards me, even if no one else was there to see him. He was probably practicing for when we got to school.

I closed my eyes, preparing for the familiar twisting feeling of Apparating. I clenched Mom's and Scor's hands tightly as I felt a pull in my stomach and then it was like I was being squeezed through a very thin tube. When my feet touched solid ground again, my knees gave out underneath me and I found myself on the ground again. At least apparating didn't cause me to puke this time. I opened my eyes to find that we were now standing, or in my case, sitting, by the side entrance to King's Cross station. Mom helped me to my feet- no thanks to Scor, who I noticed was wiping his hand (the one I had held!) off on his shirt. What a prat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mysti sitting on my trunk, licking her front paw and swiping over her ears. I chuckled and shook my head. I never knew how she managed to get here, but she always arrived right on time with us, ready to leave for Hogwarts.

We walked around casually to the front entrance like we were just another normal Muggle family. Yeah, right. My family would never be considered normal. We pulled our trunks behind us through the crowd until we reached the wall that wasn't a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, and as usual, Scor was the first to run through the barrier, eager to escape from his family. I was right on his heels and found myself in the midst of the brilliant chaos that was Platform 9 ¾. I looked for Scor's platinum blonde head, but couldn't find him in all the people that were crowded around the scarlet steam engine. He must've boarded the train already with his three Slytherin 'groupies', as I liked to call them. They always followed him around and I knew he loved all the attention and getting to lead the group, pretty much by default since the others weren't smart enough to think for themselves, let alone someone else.

The train whistled loudly, interrupting my thoughts. Smoke poured from the top of the flashy red train as it whistled again, signaling that it would depart in a couple minutes. I had been able to ignore my headache with all that was going on, but hearing that shrill high-pitched whistle made the sudden pain in my head unbearable. I started to black out, my knees buckling, when I felt Mom's hands steady me.

The world came back into focus around me and I gave Mom a nod and a smile to thank her, mostly because my head was still throbbing and I didn't feel like I could say anything, even if I wanted to.

She frowned slightly at me in concern. "Sam, are you okay? What happened? Do you need to see a Healer?" She put her hands on her hips, a sign that she wasn't going to listen to any lies about how I was 'fine' or 'okay'.

I put a hand to my forehead in a somewhat successful attempt to dull the pain that was my headache. "I.. I just didn't get the chance to eat breakfast today, that's all." _Not completely a lie… _Mom just looked pointedly at my hand on my head, which I hastily removed, then gave me a look that clearly said 'yeah, right.' "Okay, okay, so I'm not feeling well. It's just this stupid headache that I've had since my weird dream this morning-" I clapped a hand over my mouth quickly, interrupting what I had revealed. I hadn't planned to tell anyone about that.

"Well, please do explain," she prompted, looking at me expectantly. I then launched into how I had been having the same haunting dream each night for a while and, surprisingly, I was able to remember the dream in detail, although I left out the part where I kissed the dark-haired boy. I didn't want my mom interfering in my personal life. She paled a little after hearing it, and at first I thought that she wasn't going to say anything.

"I was afraid this might happen," my father muttered softly, looking at me with sadness in his eyes, while Mom just looked guilty. I didn't realize that he had been listening to everything I said and I was especially glad that I had 'censored' my dream. He was the typical over-protective father and he wouldn't have been very pleased to find out that I was dreaming about snogging boys in dark corridors.

"What do you mean? You were afraid of _what _ exactly?" I was completely and utterly confused and my parents shared a knowing glance, like they knew some inside joke involving me that I wasn't aware of.

"Don't worry yourself, Sam," Mom began hesitantly. "It's just a dream, nothing to be concerned about-"

"No!" I shouted, my temper getting the best of me. I could always tell when Mom was hiding something, and I hated that they were withholding information, especially because it was about me. "Don't tell me not to worry and that everything's all fine and dandy! I know that these dreams aren't normal, and I _will_ be concerned about them! Why are you guys keeping things from me? I'm _sixteen_, for crying out loud, don't I deserve to know what's happening to me?" I trailed off, my white-hot anger gone in a flash, replaced by tears that threatened to spill down my face. I hastily wiped them away with the back of my hand before anyone noticed. "What's happening to me?" I whispered and looked wide-eyed to the shocked faces of my parents for answers.

"Well, you see, Samantha," Father began, and I tried not to flinch. I hated being called by my full name. "It all started when Audrey was young…" he turned to Mom expectantly, putting an arm around her waist with a faint smile, as if he was remembering the times that he now wanted her to explain to me.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't pull away from him, and then started where he left off. "When I was young, I had moments where I would black out, seeing flashes of events that would happen in my life." She seemed to sense my confusion. "Yes, I guess some people would say I could see the future, and they were right, in a way. The things that I saw in these 'flashes' always happened eventually, but I never knew exactly when the things I saw would take place. Sometimes I would only get glimpses of the future, and sometimes I would have longer dreams, and they always came upon me randomly. I started to think of them as attacks, and I always suffered from very painful headaches afterwards. These attacks didn't go away until about 16 years ago, right around the time when you and your brother were born."

The pieces started to fit together in my mind like a jigsaw puzzle coming together, but I didn't like the final picture. "So what you're saying is, you passed on all your 'prophetic wisdom' or whatever you want to call it to me, and that the dreams I've been having are really dreams that predict the future?" The rational part of my mind knew that everything they told me was true, but part of me wanted my parents to say that it was Scor who was the prophet, not me, and another part of me thought that this was all just one big prank.

Unfortunately, they nodded, completely serious. "Great," I muttered sarcastically. "Maybe I should just call myself the Oracle and start reading people's palms and get some tarot cards, then, huh? Ooh, and maybe I could even get my own crystal ball to look into!"

Both parents rolled their eyes. "Sam," Mom replied. "I know that this is a lot to take in. I'm not going to tell you that it's fun and amazing to be able to see the future, because it's not. It was a terrible burden I had to bear, and I truly am sorry that it was passed to you. But just try not to dwell on it, okay? Don't let the fear of the future keep you from living in the present." She pulled me in for a hug, then gave me a kiss on the cheek and a thousand-watt smile. I gave a hesitant smile back and turned to my father, who just looked at me awkwardly, silently begging me not to hug him, too. I blew him a kiss instead and then grabbed my trunk and boarded the train.

I was one of the last ones to get on the train, so finding a compartment to sit in was even harder than usual. _I'll just look for Teddy or Rose. They've got to be somewhere on here already. _But as I walked farther and farther down the train, past a herd of annoying first-years, past the rowdy third and fourth-years, even past my own brother and his disgusting Slytherin cronies, I never saw Teddy's bright blue hair or any of the red-headed Weasleys. Come to think of it, I didn't see any of the Potters, either.

I had reached the back of the train and was lucky enough to find an empty compartment, although it looked like it had seen better days. The overhead lights inside it kept flickering on and off, the window could barely even be considered a window anymore because dirt and dust made it nearly impossible to look out of it, and when I tried to slide the door closed behind me, it let out an awful grinding screech and stopped halfway shut. _Oh well. At least I have a compartment all to myself, even if it is a dump. _I collapsed onto one of the benches, dust flying into the air around me. I coughed and tried to clear the air around me by waving my arms around, but my movements only made more dust appear. I gave up, and carefully leaned back in my seat, preparing to sleep the whole way to Hogwarts. At least, I hoped I would be able to sleep and not have to deal with any of my stupid prophetic dreams again.

The train lurched forwards, the thin layer of dust on the floor swirling around my feet. As I drifted off into what I desperately wanted to be a nice, dreamless power nap, I suddenly had a bad feeling about this year. Like the whole Weasley-Potter family's disappearance was only the beginning of a downhill slide that lead to complete and utter chaos.

Ah, such comforting thoughts my brain conjures up when I'm trying to sleep.


	4. I Deal with an Annoying Badger

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the original Harry Potter series, however, I do own a lovely corn snake.**

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**[Sam]**

"You wake her up!"

"No, you!"

"Do it… I dare you!"

"No way!"

"Fine. I _double-dog _dare you!"

"OOOOH! A double-dog dare! You have to now!"

"Fine! I'll do it!" There was a pause in the boys' bickering. Then I felt a sharp pain in my lower back as one of them whispered, "Hello." The other boys snickered.

"Hey," he said with more confidence and I thought I felt him kick me in the back. "Wake up!" he whisper-yelled, and this time I was sure that he kicked me, but I figured if I just pretended to be asleep that they'd leave me alone.

"GET UP!" he shouted. I jerked upright before he could kick me again and turned to glare at them. Well, I tried my hardest to glare, but it was hard to seem intimidating when three 11-year-old boys found you sleeping curled up in the fetal position on the floor of an old abandoned compartment.

I stood up as straight as possible so I towered over them, one hand on my hip and the other pointed angrily at their faces. "If you kick me one more time, I will cut off your feet so you can't run away and then feed you to the giant squid." I didn't need to yell; my icy glare and deadly calm voice was enough to make the three first year boys take a step back and look at each other with wide eyes. I barely managed to contain my laughter at the looks of fear on their faces. Obviously they had heard about the giant squid in the lake but didn't know that it was just a myth used to scare the first-years.

I half-hoped that they'd be sorted into Gryffindor so I could mess with them for the whole year.

One of them nudged another forwards and he gulped; he was probably the one who had been kicking me earlier. "We… um," he cleared his throat nervously as I looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Well, the Head Boy and Girl sent us to find you and tell you that you need to go to the Prefects meeting." He stepped back quickly, looking at anything but me.

"Is that all?" I could hardly hide my smile now and tried to pass it off as a smirk. I loved when the younger kids were afraid of me, however bad that sounds. Teddy and I invented roles for each other as Prefects last year: he would be the 'good cop' and I would be the 'bad cop'. Our strategy never failed to make the troublemakers behave. Well, except for James and Fred. We would always be lenient with them, considering that we had both helped them quite frequently with their notoriously elaborate pranks.

The boy nodded and then they practically ran back to their compartment, probably going to tell all their friends about how brave they were for talking to the 'big, scary, sixth-year Prefect'. I finally allowed myself to laugh, and once I started, it was like I couldn't stop. Good thing I was so isolated from everyone so that no one could walk by and notice me laughing hysterically at nothing. I'd be shipped off to St. Mungo's for sure!

I quickly changed into my uniform and attempted to untangle my short, choppy strawberry blonde hair with my fingers, but my hair was pretty much the girl version of the trademark Potter hairdo. I could spend hours trying to make it look presentable, but my hair had a mind of its own and would never behave, so most days I just let it do whatever.

I straightened my red and gold striped tie as I practically ran to the front of the train. Normally, I could care less about showing up on time, but the Prefects meeting was not just an ordinary event. If you were late, or didn't even bother to show up, the Head Boy and Girl would tattle to the Headmaster and then you'd be in big trouble. Getting detention isn't really how I wanted to start the year, hence my running.

Along the way, I passed those three first-years, who were sitting with some of their friends and laughing, most likely about the story of having to wake me up, so I slowed down to a normal pace long enough to stand in the doorway to their compartment.

I cleared my throat so they would notice me, and when they did, the three boys paled a little. "Everything alright in here, kids?" I asked with a smirk. The three first-years nodded so quickly, they probably had whiplash. "Good," I said with a nod of satisfaction. I walked back out, and I could hear them bust up laughing. I smiled and shook my head as I speed-walked past the last few compartments. Hopefully the first-years this year were not all as nervous and scared as those three. When I was a first-year, James, Teddy, Fred, and I would always pull pranks on anyone and everyone. We especially tormented Rose's twin brother, Mike, and, of course, my own twin.

I now stood in front of the door to the Prefects' compartment and I took the time to brush my hair out of my eyes and smooth down my shirt before walking in. Of course, all the other Prefects were already there and when I entered, eight pairs of eyes looked straight to me. Wait- _eight _pairs? That meant two other people weren't here. But who…?

"Ah, miss Malfoy. How nice of you to join us," the Head Boy smirked, interrupting my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes. Dash Stormash was the only Hufflepuff I knew that was so stuck-up and snooty. His light brown hair had been styled up in a bunch of little spikes, and his green eyes seemed cold and condescending. Considering that he was shorter than me and that his hair was spiked up, he reminded me of an angry little hedgehog.

"Yes, and aren't you glad that I have graced you with my presence," I said, opening my arms out with a flourish, like I was presenting myself. "Not everyone gets such a special privilege." I then crossed my arms over my chest victoriously.

"Had a nice nap, I presume? You look like you got up on the wrong side of the bed…or floor, in your case." He snickered, giving me a once-over. He thought he was so hilarious. I was just curious as to how he found out about my little run-down compartment, but I wasn't about to show my confusion and let him get the upper hand.

"Oh, come off it, Dash. We both know you think my messy hair is sexy." I ran a hand through my hair and smiled as his face reddened and he looked away hastily.

"Is it okay with you two children if we start the meeting now?" The Head Girl, Jayla something-or-other, interrupted. I could tell that she didn't mean to be rude; the twinkle in her blue eyes gave away the laughter she was holding in as she said, "Not that this isn't entertaining and all…" she glanced at Dash, who tried to meet my gaze and failed, blushing slightly again, all traces of his earlier attitude gone in a flash. I nodded to her with a smile and took a seat next to my brother, who completely ignored me. I kicked his shin underneath the table. He winced slightly and whipped his head around to glare at me, then turned back to the other Slytherin Prefect as he stomped on my foot in return.

Jayla cleared her throat to get our attention, then her and Dash began the lecture about how we were supposed to set an example for the younger kids, we needed to be fair and not play favorites, blah, blah, blah. Having been a Prefect last year, I had already heard everything that they were going to say, so I tuned them out as I looked around at all the other Prefects.

To my right were the Slytherins, Scor and the fifth-year foreign exchange student from Italy, Lydia Milani. She had straight brown hair that tumbled perfectly down her back, honey-colored eyes and her full lips were permanently stuck in a pout that I suppose guys might find attractive. Me, I thought she looked like a two-year-old on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Across from her and Scor were the Hufflepuffs; the girl was Neville's eldest child, Kali. She had her father's dark brown hair, cut just above her shoulders, and Luna's blue eyes. She was quite petite, and pairing her small frame with her large eyes made her look innocent, that is, until she performed a perfect Body-Bind Hex on you when you weren't looking! I didn't recognize the Hufflepuff boy, but I was pretty sure that they were both fifth-years. Next to them was one Ravenclaw, Lydia's older brother, Nico. Comparing him to his younger sister, the only similarity was their slightly tilted almond-shaped eyes. Nico had jet black hair and bangs that hung in front of his hazel eyes, making him twitch his head to the side constantly. While Lydia had perfectly clear pale skin, Nico's skin was sun-darkened and he had a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. _He really is quite attractive,_ I admitted to myself. As if knowing my thoughts he glanced over at me and gave a wink so slight I almost missed it. I blushed in spite of myself even though I knew that if I talked to him he'd have an ego big enough to match James'.

I forced myself to switch my train of thought back to looking for the other Prefects, but with a jolt I realized that there weren't any more. Rose was the other Ravenclaw Prefect last year, so I assumed that she was still Prefect this year, but why was she not here? Rose had always been one to follow the rules strictly, so I immediately dismissed the thought of her skipping the meeting. Shock and worry entered my mind as I realized the two people that were missing: Teddy and Rose. It couldn't have been a coincidence that they were related and were both absent. I stood up suddenly.

"…and that's what you should do if you find students wandering around at night," Dash finished. I think he even managed to bore Jayla, and considering that she was a Ravenclaw, that was quite a feat. He didn't even notice that I had stood up until I snapped my fingers at him impatiently.

"Do you have a question, Sam?" he asked with a sigh. I guess he thought I wasn't worth interrupting his speech, and that only made me angry.

I tried to control my raging temper as I asked, "When were you going to tell us why Teddy and Rose aren't here?" Dash didn't seem to have heard me, but I caught him exchanging a quick glance with Jayla. Nico nodded at me, then looked questioningly to Dash and Jayla; he had probably wanted to know where Rose was as well but was too lazy to ask them himself. The others all looked around, as if they hadn't even noticed that anyone was missing.

"Actually," Dash seemed to have collected himself enough to respond. "I wasn't going to tell you anything. You're just not important enough for this kind of information." He sneered at me and Jayla elbowed him in the ribs with a glare. Good for her, showing dominance over that weasel.

"I'm not _important_ enough?!" I all but screeched, slamming my hands down on the table in front of me for emphasis. "I'm a bloody _Prefect! _I think I have the right to know where my partner is, don't you?"

"Actually, Sam, Teddy won't be joining you this year," Jayla replied, attempting to stay calm. She knew how dangerous my temper could be. During my fourth year, she caught me trying to hide two fourth-year boys in a broom closet, whom I had jinxed into unconsciousness shortly before she appeared. She didn't let me explain that it was only in self-defense; they had been trying to feel me up, so I had retaliated. She gave me detention with Professor Lohrena for 2 weeks, and the boys slid under the radar like the scum they were, and still are.

"That's right, Sammy," Dash couldn't keep his mouth shut for longer than a few seconds, apparently. "You won't be able to snuggle up to Teddy at night anymore." My eyes widened and I was struck speechless, feeling like I had been slapped. That comment was pretty low, even for Dash. It seemed like the entire student body had this fantasy about Teddy and I sneaking out on 'romantic outings' instead of doing our Prefect rounds and the Professors did nothing to discourage these rumors, in fact, they almost seemed to _encourage_ them. I always insisted that we were just friends, but Teddy loved all the attention that he received and would tell people that I was 'in denial' and that 'our love is a forbidden one' and cheesy lines like that. Everyone ate it up though, especially when he would hold my hand, walk me to class, and give me a quick peck on the cheek, only to receive a punch in the arm or a jab to the throat if he didn't pull away quick enough.

"Awww, Sam's blushing!" If my face was red, it was out of pure anger. And all that fury was currently directed at Dash. "Maybe she's remembering all the great times they had together," Dash snickered. "Oh, Teddy, I love you so much!" He squealed in a high falsetto. "Not as much as I love you, Sam," he switched to a deeper voice, laughing at his own joke. "How many nights were you actually doing what you were supposed to be?" He continued, returning to his normal tone of voice. "Maybe for that first week of school, huh? Or maybe you just couldn't help yourself and-"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, flicking my wand out and casting a Silencing spell on him before he knew what had happened. He stared at me open-mouthed, trying to talk but his efforts were futile. I currently held the title of top Charms student, for the fourth year in a row; there was no way that my spell could have been weak enough to wear off that quickly. Everyone else stared at me with wide eyes and I looked down, suddenly ashamed and embarrassed at letting my temper get the best of me. No one had ever used magic on another student during a Prefect meeting, as far as I knew.

I risked a glance up and saw Jayla asking me something but I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my heart beating rapidly as I thought of how much trouble I would be in because of this. I didn't bother responding to her as I looked to my brother, embarrassment and disbelief clear in his disapproving gaze.

Taking a shaky step back, and then another, I turned and ran out of the room. I reached my lonely little deserted compartment and sat down on the floor, not bothering to close the door behind me. Curling my legs into my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my head on my knees, rocking slightly. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, trying to control my emotions by slowly counting to ten: a trick that Mom had taught me when I was young.

_One. _I took a shaky breath. I couldn't help but replay what had just happened over and over again in my mind, and each time I felt more and more terrible about myself andmy actions.

_Two. _I had to clear my head. It was the only way to get rid of my temper, so I let go. I let go of Dash's teasing, his smirking face, his annoying laughter and arrogant attitude.

_Three. _Seeing Dash fade from my head actually helped more than I expected, so next I tried letting go of Scor and his constantly disappointed expression, the way that he always treated me like dirt during school just because I was the only Malfoy in Gryffindor, or because I associated with 'blood traitors' and Muggleborns, and how he always tried to act just like our dad did in school.

_Four. _I let go of Jayla and all the other Prefects, their shocked faces and judgmental looks finally fading from my mind as I took another deep, calming breath in, then let the air out slowly.

_Five. _Now that my mind was clear, I thought of all the people that would come to cheer me up if they saw me curled up and sulking.

_Six. _I thought of Rose and the way her eyes lit up whenever she learned something new, how she'd always bite her lip and frown whenever she was concentrating really hard on something, and how she was always the first one to laugh at all of my dumb jokes.

_Seven. _Next was Teddy with his bright blue hair, laughing golden eyes and ever-present optimism, always going out of his way to help me whenever I needed something, and how he'd always find some way to make me smile, no matter how bad of a situation I might be in.

_Eight. _I thought of James and Fred, all their ridiculous antics and all the great pranks we pulled off together. How I would always be the planner, while Fred mooched free supplies from his dad's joke shop. James would never help us prepare anything and then he'd join in the pranking and take all the credit, trying to impress his new girlfriend that he would never stay with for more than a couple weeks anyways.

_Nine. _I thought of my mom and how she never failed to cheer me up when I was down, how she always looked at me with pride and love in her eyes, how she managed to overlook the bad and only see the good in everyone. I had always wanted to be more like her, but my sharp temper and sarcasm were so unlike her caring smile and kind, calm demeanor.

_Ten. _With Mom's bright, loving smile still fresh in my mind, I hesitantly opened my eyes, only to close them again as I fell sideways onto the floor. The train had jolted to a stop and the sound of the other students' chatter filled my ears. What seemed like the longest train ride of my life had finally ended.

We had arrived at Hogwarts at last.

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**A/N: No, this is not the last chapter. I just put the first four up to give people a taste of Two of a Kind and so I could get a head start on updating. Which I am planning on doing once a week, unless I let y'all know otherwise! Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, so... you know what to do: Read and Review! (hey, that's kind of catchy! :))**


	5. A Strangely Familiar New Face

**A/N: Hey guys, it's update day! *throws a party* I was going to do a double update because I was so excited to get new chapters out to you, but due to technical difficulties, I was only able to add this chapter. :/ Oh well! Special thanks go out to Zeke for reviewing! You guys don't understand how happy reading reviews makes me. I sat there smiling like an idiot for, like, twenty minutes. Literally. Anywho, here it is! Hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is amazing and owns everything except for my OCs.**

**Disclaimer for the disclaimer: I will only be putting up a disclaimer every so often. I think you guys understand that I am (unfortunately) not Lady Rowling.**

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**[Sam]**

I exited the train with a new spring in my step, showing no signs of what had just happened. _Hogwarts!_ Even though I had grown up in the wizarding world and I had been attending Hogwarts for 5 years now, the huge castle never ceased to amaze me. The lake was crystal clear and smooth as glass, and I thought I caught a glimpse of the shining hoops on the Quidditch pitch before I was forced along with the flow of the crowd.

I wondered who would be Gryffindor captain this year. Probably James Potter, resident prankster and Seeker extraordinaire. I wasn't really upset about not being captain. I was a Prefect, after all, and James always put so much effort into Quidditch, as opposed to his schoolwork, which he never put anyeffort into. With James as captain, and a fairly experienced team, this might be the year that Gryffindor finally took the Quidditch Cup. We had been consistently second place to Ravenclaw because of their amazing fifth-year Chasers, the Parker triplets, who were so in sync with each other that some people joked about them communicating telepathically, and others actually believed that they _could_. Either way, they irked me to no end. Because of them, I was blamed for our losses, being Keeper and all. The captain from last year, Eva Kimble, had done her best to help me, but I still had been bullied by kids in my own House. I definitely had plenty of built-up anger towards the Parkers, and I couldn't wait to unleash it during the match against Ravenclaw.

"That was quite a meeting, huh?" All thoughts flew out of my head as I looked up to meet Nico's eyes and his teasing smirk.

Heat rushed to my face and my gaze dropped to ground. "I don't want to talk about it," I replied, turning away from him. He reached out and caught my hand, keeping me from leaving.

"Why not? I've never seen such a powerful nonverbal spell and Dash only got what was coming to him. He was being a jerk to you." He paused expectantly, gauging my reaction, but I was still staring dumbstruck at our hands. Fred, James, and Teddy were the only guys who really paid any attention to me, and even that wasn't really _romantic_ attention, plus they were the only ones I wouldn't injure for joking around with me. In my experience, whenever a guy started to be overly friendly with me, it turns out that they were only hoping I'd return the favor. At least when that happened, my friends and I would teach the poor guy a lesson through as many pranks as we could before we got caught. Shaking my head slightly to push multiple memories away, I broke out of my trance and mumbled an apology as I turned away from Nico again, walking quickly inside with my head down.

_You're such a jerk_, I thought furiously to myself. _Leaving like that without saying a word. He probably thinks that you're no better than Dash. _Involuntarily, I flinched and almost tripped myself in the process. _That's not true, _I argued, resuming my mental conversation with myself. _It was only self-defense and I'll be _glad_ if he never talks to me again. He seemed too arrogant for his own good._ My excuses were so pathetic I could've laughed. No matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, and no matter how cliché it sounded, the thought of not talking to Nico anymore made me feel as sad as I would if my cat had suddenly died.

As if my thoughts had called her, I saw the familiar feline shape that was Mysti weaving through the crowd to reach me. I gathered her up in my arms and instantly felt ten times better. Mysti purred loudly, which I took as her way of saying that she missed me.

With my cat now sitting happily on my shoulder and a little bit of my self-confidence back, I climbed into one of the Thestral-drawn (or so I had heard) carriages, only to be joined by the three people I wanted to see the least at that moment: Clayton, Claudia, and Cecelia Parker.

Cecelia and Claudia both had brown hair that fell in waves to the middle of their backs and light green eyes, but Claudia liked to wear colored contacts that made her irises look brilliantly purple because she hated when people mistook her for Cecelia. Clayton, on the other hand, wore thin square glasses, had greenish-blue eyes, and had short black hair that he styled to curl up in the front. The one thing they all had in common was a habit of turning their noses up at everyone and an air of supremacy and wealth. That, and they were all three in Ravenclaw. I felt bad for Nico, who would have to deal with them constantly.

I sighed heavily and looked away, trying to ignore their not-so-discreet whispers and pointed looks.

"Did you hear what happened-"

"-she just exploded-"

"-poor guy-"

"-it's because of her half-blood mother-"

"-how is she a Prefect?"

"-you know how Malfoys are-"

"-Death Eaters, the whole lot of them-"

I could feel my blood starting to boil and I clenched my fists so hard that my fingernails left little crescent shapes on my palms. _How dare they sit in front of me and bad-mouth my family? _I thought furiously. _And I thought only Slytherins believed that pure-blood crap. _But I refused to let my temper get the best of me again, so I settled on giving all three of them death glares.

But now they weren't even trying to disguise the fact that they were talking about me, and I wasn't going to just sit there and take it.

"I'm not deaf, you know," I snapped.

"What? I'm afraid I don't understand what you're suggesting," Cecelia replied like she was explaining something to a small child.

"Slow down, Cece," Clayton added. "Remember she's in Gryffindor and clearly lacks our superior intellect and-" he looked me up and down "-the ability to look presentable in public." He sneered at me like the snob he was while Cecelia giggled behind her hand, and Claudia actually snorted, a surprisingly unladylike action for her.

"You know, I'm just really not in the mood to deal with you children right now," I replied as calmly as I could.

"Oh, good one, Malfoy," Claudia remarked sarcastically.

"Careful, Claudia," Cecelia warned. "She'll hex _your _face off next!" Another round of laughter.

"Just shut your oversized mouth, for once in your life," I grumbled to myself and Mysti arched her back and hissed at them, cutting their laughter off. I smirked at the brief flash of fear on their faces. Seeing Mysti angry was a pretty frightening sight, as she was bigger than a normal cat, which had me convinced that she was part Kneazle, and that would explain why she hated the Parkers.

Thankfully, the carriage had just arrived at the entrance and I was finally able to escape the triple threat, happily walking into the Great Hall and taking a seat at the Gryffindor table. Even though the Potters and Weasleys still were nowhere to be found, it was nice to just sit calmly and actually pay attention during the Sorting instead of goofing off with James and Teddy.

After a few minutes of listening to Alli Garcia and Louise McKinnon, two seventh-year Gryffindors gossip across from me about some mysterious new student, Headmaster Damian Shay flung the doors open wide as he waltzed into the Great Hall, followed by a crowd of nervous, scrawny first-years. As I looked down the line of eleven-year-olds for possible Gryffindor material, I noticed that the last guy in line was about two feet taller than all the others and looked to be about my age, strangely. I couldn't help but stare as he stood with the first-years at the front of the room, cool and calculating as he looked at all the students he would soon be joining. _What was this guy's story? _His seemingly indifferent gaze fell on me and I dropped my eyes hastily. We had only locked gazes for a second, but I could tell: this guy was a Slytherin, through and through.

Headmaster Shay stepped up to the podium and almost instantly, the chatter stopped as every pair of eyes turned to him.

"Hola, y bienvenidos a la escuela Hogwarts de magia y hechicería!" He said brightly, with a huge smile as everyone turned to their neighbor in confusion. A few of the Professors chuckled at the looks on some of the students' puzzled faces.

"I said," Shay continued, "hello, and welcome to Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry!" He laughed heartily as almost everyone smiled in understanding and a few students even applauded. Whether that applause was in admiration or relief that he switched back to English, I couldn't say.

"It's so wonderful to see all the familiar faces and also so many new ones," Shay said pleasantly. "I'd like to congratulate our new Head Boy and Girl, Mr. Dash Stormash and Ms. Jayla Jensen! I'd also like to welcome Mr. Charlie Weasley to the staff, as he will be the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher!" I joined in the thunderous applause and shouts that erupted from the Gryffindor table as the new professor stood up and waved, his ears turning pink with embarrassment. Wait- why was Charlie here if the rest of his family wasn't? I wanted to ask him about it but I doubted I would get the chance to.

"Yes, yes," the Headmaster continued. "Settle down, everyone, and get comfortable because now it's time for our new first-years to find out which House they'll spend the next seven years with!" Polite clapping followed as Shay brought out a wooden stool and the Sorting Hat and set them in front of the increasingly nervous eleven-year-olds.

I watched as the first-years shared shocked looks when the hat began its song, but I zoned out a bit while the hat was singing. Sortings were always quite boring unless you knew someone who was being Sorted, but this time I was intrigued as to what would happen with the new boy. It looked like he was muttering something to himself under his breath, but I couldn't tell what he was saying.

I was still staring intently at him when the Sorting Hat finished its song and took a bow to more applause, and then it was time to begin the Sorting. I mentally placed a bet on which House the first kid would go to, like I always did with Freddie. _10 sickles on Hufflepuff, _I thought. I imagined him saying back, _You're on! I'm betting it's Slytherin._

"Aarons, Grace!" Headmaster Shay announced as an athletic-looking girl walked up to the stool with her nose in the air and placed the hat on her head.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted as the Slytherin table clapped coolly, and Grace walked over to join her new House. I looked past Alli and Louise to the other side of the room where my brother was sitting, who appeared to be extremely bored, but I knew he was actually quite alert and was analyzing every detail of the Sorting with his clever Slytherin brain. He looked over at me, and we stared each other down for about thirty seconds, neither one of us wanting to be the first to look away, before he finally turned his head away with a look of disgust, and I mentally stuck my tongue out at him. He always pretended like I was scum when he was around his 'friends', but when it was just us two, he could actually be quite pleasant.

As the next kid was sorted into Ravenclaw, I realized that it was good the Potters and Weasleys weren't here because I had just lost my mental bet with Freddie.

My thoughts wandered back to the new kid again. He was pretty tall, but not awkwardly so, with dark curly hair and piercing blue eyes. I felt like I had seen this guy before, but that was not only ridiculous; it was impossible.

Applause from my own House brought me back to the Sorting: the first Gryffindor had been announced, and I watched a slightly embarrassed boy with sandy brown hair sit down at the other end of our table by some of the second-years.

"Hey," I whispered across the table to Alli. "What was that kid's name? I missed it."

"A Prefect not paying attention during the Sorting? Tsk, tsk," she joked, shaking her head and smiling. "Just kidding, Sam. I think his name was Isaac Caryn?" She turned to Louise for conformation, who nodded.

"Thanks," I replied, and turned my attention to the Sorting, determined to not zone out again, in case I missed another Gryffindor.

By the time the hat reached the last kid, who went to Hufflepuff along with five other first-years, Ravenclaw had seven new members, Slytherin got seven as well, and Gryffindor had gained eight more first-years: five boys and three girls. I was anxiously waiting for the Headmaster to announce the new boy, and I didn't have to wait long.

"As you have probably noticed by now, the last one up here is indeed a little old to be a first-year," Headmaster Shay joked, earning a few polite chuckles in response. "Marvin Dilerd is a transfer student from America who will be joining the sixth-years of whichever House he is sorted into. I expect you all to be kind and respectful towards him, as it's very difficult to move to a new place and start over. So, Marvin, if you would," Shay gestured towards the hat and Marvin walked up to it with more grace than I would have been able to muster with everyone's eyes on me.

The room was deathly quiet as he sat down and put the hat on his head. Marvin's sorting was taking much longer than the other kids' had, and a full minute passed in tense silence, everyone waiting with baited breath. I didn't know what was taking the hat so long; I could tell just by watching his expression during the sorting, his unnerving icy blue eyes, and how he walked so confidently that Marvin belonged in Slytherin.

Suddenly, the hat stirred on his head and cleared its throat before announcing its decision. _Slytherin, _I thought, confident in my analysis of the new student. I also had a feeling that this guy was bad news, and I didn't want him in my House. Don't ask me why I felt that way when I hadn't even met him before, but I just had a feeling that Marvin was not to be trusted. The hat opened its mouth, finally making up its mind, and voiced its choice with a shout that echoed through the hall.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

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**A/N: Sam finally made it to Hogwarts! Things will definitely start to pick up from here... So! What are your thoughts on the snobby Ravenclaw triplets? I myself am proud to be a Ravenclaw, but I didn't want to be stereotypical and put all the bullies in Slytherin. What do you guys think of Marvin? Is he good or bad? And where has the Potter/Weasley Clan been? Leave me your thoughts in a review! I'll see you guys next week! :)**


	6. I See the Light at the End of the Room

**A/N: Hi y'all! That's right, I now have my own laptop which means I can update regularly again! So I hope you enjoy, and here's the next chapter! :)**

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**[Mike]**

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar landscape of nothing but white light so bright I immediately wanted to close my eyes again, then settled on blinking a few times. _Is this where Uncle Harry went when he battled Voldemort? _I wondered. _Does that mean I'm dead?_ For some odd reason, the notion that I was dead scared me a little.

"Hello?" I tried to call out, but it came out as more of an unintelligible cough. I blinked a few more times, and the world swam into focus. _So I'm _not_ dead, _I confirmed as I noticed my entire family sprawled around a stark white hospital room. Most of them were asleep on the floor or slumped in chairs, and the ones who were awake looked utterly exhausted. I also noticed that I was laying on a crisp, clean white bed, and when I tried to sit up, my body didn't respond, although I now had a pounding headache. A soft groan of pain was all I could muster, but apparently someone heard me.

"James! Rose! Teddy! Wake up!" Lily shouted, her excited high-pitched voice grating on my ears, making me cringe, which caused another jolt of pain, this time, throughout my whole body.

"Can it, Lily," Teddy replied, still half-asleep. "James needs his beauty rest!" Lily snorted. Even half-asleep, my sort-of cousin, Teddy, still had a better sense of humor and more charisma than I could ever hope to have.

"Oi!" James yelled, his loud voice making my head ring. "I've been told by many a female that I am in fact, the most ruggedly handsome, muscular, charming, swoon-worthy man in all of Hogwarts." His tone of voice told me James was flashing his signature arrogant smile, even if I couldn't lift my head up to see it. "I'll teach you not to underestimate my powers, peasant!" James joked with Teddy, and I could hear the sound of them wrestling on the floor until Lily broke them up, grumbling to herself about how immature boys were.

I heard light footsteps that could only be Lily's come closer, and suddenly her face was inches away from mine, and a few locks of her long red hair brushed my face.

"MIKE! YOU'RE AWAKE!" She yelled, still leaning right over me. Her sudden appearance and her insanely loud voice were too much to handle right then, and I found myself slipping into darkness yet again.

"Great job, Lils," I heard James say in his normal sarcastic tone. "He wasn't dead before, but surely now you've scared him to death!"

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Lily sobbed, while Rose gently murmured comforting words to her. I couldn't take the sound of Lily's crying, and the thought that I might've caused it.

"I'm not dead," I croaked, my voice hoarse from not being used. I blinked my eyes open and was greeted by the concerned faces of my siblings and cousins gathered around me.

"Hey, Mikey," Teddy said awkwardly, probably remembering our heated argument before I passed out. "Glad to see you're back, you git," he teased lightly, a little bit of his spunk returning.

"Wait- we have to make sure that he's really back," Fred interrupted.

"Oi, you're right, mate," James replied in mock seriousness. "Quick, Mike, what's 87 times 236?"

"20,532," I laughed, my head clearing as I easily solved the math problem mentally. Even recovering from a coma, or whatever happened to me, I still enjoyed doing math. I had inherited my mum's smarts, after all, and some people even said I was smarter than she was at my age, but I didn't plan on relaying this information to her.

"Correct," James responded happily. "We have our Mike back!" Scattered laughter spread throughout the room.

"James," I asked, puzzled for a moment at a thought that had just occurred to me. "How did you know that was the right answer?"

"Er..." He answered, looking down and scratching the back of his head like he did when he was embarrassed. I let it go; he was obviously avoiding the question, and I mentally made a note to ask him about it later.

"So," I said as loudly as I could manage to take the attention off of James, because I'm a nice cousin like that. "What happened to me, anyways?" I attempted to sit up, but failed and involuntarily let out a soft grunt of pain. Rose noticed this and helped me sit up and then took my hand, although I wasn't sure who she was trying to comfort: me or herself.

"I'm so sorry, Mike!" Lily wailed, obviously distressed. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to, honest, I was just... I didn't... I'm sorry!" She burst into tears again, running over to Aunt Ginny and throwing her arms around her mother.

I must have looked utterly befuddled, because Rose took a big breath before launching into a lengthy explanation.

"Well," she began. "It all started when Lily joined the Quidditch team, because then she had to start exercising more, and you've probably noticed this, you're pretty observant and she _is _your cousin and all, plus you've probably noticed how the guys all her age stare when she walks by now, but she's not even interested in any of them because she fancies someone else who will remain nameless because it might be quite shocking for you to find out, but like I said, you're very observant and it's quite obvious, so you probably already know who it is, in which case I could say his name, but if you really _don't _know who it is, and I give it away, Lily will kill me, and we all know she could if she really wanted to, and-"

"Geez, woman!" James cut her off. "Get to the point already!"

"Right," Rose blushed slightly. "The point. . . .er. . . . well. . . . I'll try to be brief."

"Thank goodness," Fred whispered to Hugo, who snickered.

"Well," Rose began again. "I assume you remember your big row with Teddy, right, Mike?" I gave a little nod; I remembered most of it, but the end was still kind of fuzzy. "Well, you guys were shouting at each other and it was horrible, just awful to see you guys fight like that, so Lily and I decided to intervene, and just in time too, because you both had your wands out, but we probably could've chosen a better way to interrupt you because apparently tackling you wasn't the best idea..." She trailed off, looking uncertain, and I could still hear Lily sniffling quietly somewhere else in the room.

"So why is Lily so upset?" I questioned, still confused.

"I'm getting there!" Rose chastised. "Just let me finish, and don't interrupt!" She glared intently at James, who currently resembled a sulky ten-year-old, and then Fred and Teddy in turn, as if expecting them to protest. When no one objected, she seemed satisfied and continued her story. Well, I guess it was actually my story.

"So where was I?" She said thoughtfully, then added, "Rhetorical question," when Fred started to open his mouth. "Oh yes! Breaking up you and Teddy's almost-duel. So you guys had your wands pointed at each other, and then Lily went for you and I went for Teddy, and I tackled Teddy from the side and stole his wand and sat on him so he couldn't get up or anything, and Lily hit you from the side but I guess she really surprised you and hit you hard because you didn't put your hands out to slow your fall and you literally cracked your head open on the floor. I heard you hit the ground and Lily was just standing there over you, pale as a sheet, in complete shock at what she had done, and I screamed because you were just laying limp and there was blood everywhere..." She faltered, squeezing my hand tightly and then shook her head like she was repressing the memory.

I gave her hand a squeeze back. "It's okay Rose," I reassured her. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to." She looked at me gratefully. "So what happened after I passed out?" I looked around for answers from one of my other relatives.

"Well, we heard Rose scream, and all of us rushed in the room to help." Victoire suddenly appeared from behind Teddy and stood right by him, so close that they almost seemed to be holding hands. She didn't appear to notice or care how close they were, but Teddy obviously did. His hair took on a slightly pink tint, if only for a moment, but I noticed it. I made yet another mental note to ask him about that as Victoire finished up my story.

"When we saw you there, your mother had a cow and so did Grandma Molly, and the only people who were being sensible were your dad and Uncle Harry. I guess being Aurors, they're used to seeing that kind of stuff. But anyways, Aunt Ginny cast some healing spell on you that would last until we got you to see a real Healer. Then everyone who could Apparate did, and everyone who couldn't came with side-along Apparition, because that was the fastest way to get you help, even if it was a bit risky in your. . . . um, _condition_. So we took you here, to St. Mungo's, and they fixed you right up in almost no time at all. You were knocked out for about a day, and Teddy said you might've woken up earlier today, but I don't know if you'd remember that."

"I do, actually. At least now my sixth year will be memorable, and I'll have a story to tell my children: 'How I Survived an Encounter with Teddy Lupin,' " I joked, trying to say something just so that everyone would stop looking at me like I was a wounded puppy. I smiled at Teddy and he smiled back, a little hesitantly, but I could tell it was genuine either way. The good thing about family is that we can forgive each other of anything. I realized suddenly that there was still one loose end in this whole ordeal.

I swung my legs around off the side of the bed, ignoring the sounds of protest from those around me, namely Rose, and I slowly pushed myself to my feet. I walked unsteadily over to where Lily and Ginny were sitting together, the former with her head in her hands, and the latter holding her, rubbing her back gently. Aunt Ginny noticed me, gave a small, sympathetic smile and then went over to her husband, leaving Lily and I alone.

The red-haired thirteen year old looked up at her mother's absence and then her head sunk down upon seeing me. I sat down next to her, our shoulders brushing.

We sat like that for a while in silence. I knew that if I tried to push her to talk, she would just break again and then no one would be able to get anything out of her anyways. After a few minutes, my patience paid off.

"I know why you're here, Mike," she sighed, tilting her head to rest it on my shoulder. I took this as a sign of acceptance and began to stroke her long hair almost absentmindedly. I always felt closer to my little cousin than my younger brother and even Rose. Don't ask me why; I wasn't sure myself. Hugo always seemed to get along with Albus best anyways, even if he was too polite to admit it to anyone. And Rose was just too. . . . excitable? It was hard to describe, but Rose and I had a different sort of dynamic than Lily and I did.

"Well, I guess we can skip the awkward small talk then, Lils," I joked. I felt her expression change, perhaps into a smile, but I doubted it. I could tell she wasn't in a joking mood right now. "Look, Lily. . . . Rose just told me what happened the other day. It did take her a while, but she got to the point eventually. And you know what I think about it all?"

"What," she mumbled, dejected.

"I think," a pause, a sigh, "I think that it doesn't matter what happened earlier. Or yesterday. Or whenever that was. I know that you were just trying to help, and I want to thank you for that."

"Th-Thank me?" She finally looked up at this. Her eyes were open wide in shock, and slightly red because of all her crying. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before continuing. "Why on earth are you thanking me? I almost _killed _you!"

"I'm thanking you for saving me from doing something I shouldn't have. Sure, you may not have went about it in the best way-" that earned me a small smile, but one that didn't quite reach her eyes "-but I'm glad you stopped me from hexing Teddy. I would've gotten in trouble for using magic outside of school, and my relationship with Teddy would've been in shambles. I'm thankful that you have such a kind, caring heart and how you are so confident in yourself and you don't change for anyone. You're amazing, Lily, and you tackling me isn't going to change that."

"Y-You really mean that, Mike?" I noticed her eyes start to water again but this time she was smiling.

"Of course I do, Lils! And. . . . don't tell the others," my voice dropped to a whisper, "but you're my favorite cousin." A real smile lit up her face, and she gave me a hug so tight I had a little trouble breathing. I didn't want to mention this to her though, in case she decided to run off or hit me or start crying again, or perhaps a combination of all three.

"You're the best, Mike," she replied happily. "And I truly am sorry for what happened. I'll never tackle you again!"

"You promise?" I teased, sticking my pinkie finger out to her.

With determination in her eyes, she replied, "I pinkie promise." A deal was made as she wrapped her pinkie around mine and we shook on it.

About an hour later the Intensive Care Ward of St. Mungo's had been overrun by a herd of gingers, both young and old, with a few dark heads scattered throughout. The teens in the crowd were all preparing to return to Hogwarts, while the adults fretted over their children, specifically the two youngest children in the family, Lily and Lucy, who were both starting their third year of school.

A young Healer walked in and started to talk, but I only knew this because I saw her bright red lips moving. Realizing that no one was listening, she put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, a loud, shrill sound that made everyone flinch involuntarily.

Looking satisfied, she announced, "So! We just talked to Headmaster Shay, and we got everything arranged for y'all." Her American accent was quite thick, and I noticed James and Fred sniggering about something-presumably her accent-with their heads close together.

Her name was Healer Jordan, according to her name tag, and she paused to flick her bangs out of her eyes before she relayed the rest of the information to us with a little too much. . . er, _perk_. "Anywho, Mr. Shay has made adjustments so that y'all can just Floo straight to Hogwarts, right into his office to be exact. Oh, and he's also already moved all y'all's stuff to your rooms, so don't worry about that either. Any questions?" She paused for half a second, maybe less. Grandma Molly opened her mouth to ask something, but Healer Jordan had already moved on. "Nobody? Oooookayyy. . . . Well then, let's get this show on the road! Just take a right, then a left after passing six more doors, then go through a broom closet and you'll find a hidden fireplace with some Floo powder on the mantle. Do have fun at school! I know I did," she gave James a wink and took her time walking- no, _sauntering_- out the door.

I rolled my eyes, James said something to Fred and Teddy that made them laugh, and Ginny looked ready to kill. Her green eyes were ablaze, and she took a few angry steps towards the door before her husband restrained her with a strong arm around her waist. Even then, it took her a few moments to calm down, although she still appeared to be trying to burn a hole through the door with her gaze. It was plain to see where Lily's usually fiery and independent demeanor came from, and let me tell you- never be on the receiving end of either Ginny's or Lily's tempers. I'd heard quite a few stories about said tempers from James, who was stuck living with both of them, and apparently both were quite adept at a certain Bat-Bogey Hex.

I refused the urge to jump when I felt someone touch my head, and I turned around to see my mum, who was carefully unraveling the bandage wrapped around my head, something I didn't even realize was there. When she removed it, the feeling was similar to having ear plugs in and taking them out suddenly. The increase of all the sounds around me was overwhelming and I cringed a little, making Hermione sigh sadly. I instantly felt horrible for making her upset.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, dear?" She reached up, for I was almost a foot taller than her, and she smoothed down my hair. That was just her being the overprotective mother hen. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes, Mum, I'm fine," I responded. "Really, I am!" I added when she still looked unconvinced.

"I know you are, I just didn't think a dense little twat like that girl would know what she was doing..." she grumbled, and I had to laugh at the look on her face, which made her laugh too, and then we were both doubled over in laughter because of nothing in particular. When we caught our breath, I gave her a hug and said goodbye, as I wouldn't be seeing her or my dad until the holidays. I then joined the other teens in walking out the door.

"You're such a mommy's boy, Mikey," James teased, ruffling my hair and then slinging his arm across my shoulders. I should've known this was coming.

"Knock it off, James," I shrugged out of his arm. "We all know how much ickle Jamie loves his daddy," I leaned over and pinched his cheek to more laughter from everyone around us. James looked quite indignant; he wasn't used to teasing, especially not from me, and I smirked- or I tried to, as I hadn't ever really smirked at anyone before- as I caught up to where Rose was having a heated argument with Albus about some complicated theory she had about a wizard being able to successfully wield two wands at the same time, which was completely absurd in my opinion.

"...it could work, you know!" She was pleading her case to Albus, who to my surprise looked quite intrigued by the subject.

"I don't think so," he replied thoughtfully after a moment. That was Albus for you. James would always rush into things and make rash decisions, whereas Albus always carefully weighed his options before acting or talking. James was outgoing, loud, and had had too many girlfriends that even _he _lost track of them all, while Albus was reserved (until he was comfortable around you), observant, and had never had a girlfriend (he claims that he's "waiting for the right girl" and he'll know her when he sees her). Well, to be fair, I hadn't had a girlfriend either, but that's a whole other story, and one to be told at a later time.

"Wandology is a complex science," Albus scratched his head, making his dark hair even messier in the process, a habit of his that showed how hard he was thinking about the subject. "We all know that the wand chooses the wizard, and think about all the different wands my dad had to try out before he found the right one. If we really were capable of using two wands, why wouldn't one of those earlier wands picked him? It would also drain your magic quicker, because it would be flowing out twice as fast, and it would just be plain impractical. . . ." He trailed off upon seeing Rose's face.

"Impractical? It would not be _impractical_," her cheeks were slowly becoming very red, almost matching the color of her hair. Rose never liked when people disagreed with her. "You would have two wands, you dolt! That way, it wouldn't matter if you broke or lost one because you'd have another right there! And yes, the wand chooses the wizard, but what if we didn't stop looking for a wand after finding the first one that worked? There could certainly be another wand that would work just as well for you! Do you really think there's only one wand in the entire world that works for you?" She scoffed, and Albus seemed a little hurt by this, but she was too absorbed in her rant to notice.

"The magic loss does prove a bit of a problem though," Albus's face brightened considerably at the possibility of outsmarting Rose. "But I think that we would just have to train ourselves to become accustomed to the feeling of using more magic at once. It would be like exercising, but for our magic!" She gasped suddenly, her hazel eyes wide at the thought of a new discovery. "Oh my goodness, what if we invented a potion to increase someone's magical tolerance-slash-ability-slash-strength?!" Her eyes took on a slightly feverish look, one that I knew well. It was the look she got when she had a thirst for knowledge, and nothing could stand in her way until she found an answer.

"Rose, your Ravenclaw is showing," I joked, poking her in the ribs, right where I knew she was most ticklish.

"Oh, shush!" She laughed, swatting me in the stomach and Albus in the arm, which caused Al to yelp in protest.

"What the bloody heck was that for?" He rubbed his arm sourly as I tried to stifle my laughter.

"Why, so you didn't feel the need to join in poking me of course!" She replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I have to keep you two boys in line, you know!" After living with Rose for sixteen years, I had the advantage of experience, and I ducked just in time for her arm to sail right through the place where my head had been a moment ago. Albus, on the other hand, was not so lucky, and Rose smacked him upside the head.

Now both Weasley twins shared a laugh at Albus' expense, as Rose could be violent and thought it was downright hilarious to hit people, and I was laughing because Al had tried to discretely shuffle a few steps away from Rose with a pout on his face.

I was still recovering from my fit of laughter when I ran smack into Molly, who had stopped abruptly for no apparent reason. She turned to glare at me, then her mouth turned up in a smirk as I mumbled a hasty apology.

I looked around to realize that it was not just Molly who had stopped, and apparently James realized this at the same time, shouting out, "Oi! What's the holdup? Let's get a move on-" Teddy clamped his hand over James' mouth, to which James bit his hand, and Teddy punched him in the arm, then whispered something to James that caused him to shut up.

Molly gestured for everyone to gather together, and we all obliged. Molly was the eldest child in the Weasley-Potter Clan, and was happy to take the role of leader, much like her dad, Percy.

"The _hold up_," Molly whispered with a condescending glare at James, who managed to actually look ashamed for his outburst, "is happening because unless anyone was counting doorways, I have no idea where we are right now."

I glanced around to find that we were the only occupants of this particular corridor, which had a bunch of doors running down both sides, and the hall seemed to continue forward endlessly. I looked over my shoulder to see if I could retrace our steps, but the only thing behind us was a blank, unremarkable white wall like all the other walls here. _Curious, _I thought, furrowing my brow. _I could've sworn we had just been walking straight this whole time. . . . _Puzzled, I automatically looked to Molly for guidance, but she appeared to be just as frazzled as the rest of us.

"Well, I guess the only logical thing to do would be to keep moving forward, right?" I stared in shock at the ginger that had just spoken, who was now looking slightly uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him. Fred being logical and serious for once? That was unheard of!

"Right you are, mate!" James clapped Fred on the back cheerily and then sauntered past all of us, strolling down the hall like he was just going for a casual walk in the park. He seemed so confident that we had no choice but to follow him through the strange corridor or be left behind.

We trudged after James, the only sound being our feet on the stark white tile as we pressed on past a multitude of doors, never seeing another soul. It became apparent that, while the doors were becoming less frequent, the hallway might not have an end at all. Our 'fearless leader' came to the same conclusion, and suddenly turned to the door on his right.

"This is it!" He exclaimed merrily, although I was quite sure that he was just as confused as the rest of us. I heard Louis grumbling under his breath as James reached out and jiggled the doorknob. He muttered a curse at the fact that the door remained firmly closed, kicking the door in his frustration. I heard Rose gasp when the door swung inward a few inches.

"Yep. I meant to do that." James stated, brushing imaginary dust off of his shoulders nonchalantly. I snorted and he glared at me, a challenge in his gaze. I calmly stared back, my blue eyes meeting his brown ones, until he finally turned back to the now open door with a scoff. I smiled triumphantly.

James looked around at everyone before stepping dramatically through the doorway, wand raised in front of him, even though he couldn't _do _anything with it as he was only sixteen. The darkness swallowed him, and we held our breath in anticipation; of what, I wasn't sure. Rose grabbed my hand nervously.

After a nerve-wracking minute, James' hand appeared and grabbed the door frame tight, and then he began screaming, causing most people to jump in alarm. Rose had a bone-crushing grip on my hand, and Teddy and Molly looked ready to burst in after James.

"Help! It's got me!" James yelled.

"Wh...what is it?" Dominique stammered, pale as a sheet.

James screamed again before replying dramatically, "Tell my mother I love her!" And then his hand disappeared and all was quiet again, dare I say _deathly _quiet. Nervous and disbelieving glances were exchanged. We knew how much of a prankster James was but we were also in an unknown, eerie section of the hospital and no one was confident enough to make a decision.

Finally Molly stepped forward and cleared her throat, the sound seeming to echo in the silence. "Well, I say we at least have a look inside, yeah?" It sounded more like a command than a question, and she didn't wait for an answer before the tip of her wand lit up in front of her and she walked into the darkness.

Teddy, Fred, Louis, Lily, and Albus were the first to follow her in, and the rest of us exchanged a glance then filed in after them, more wary than the first five were. Rose was still clinging to me, her presence almost becoming uncomfortable. Once we walked into the room, though, I was glad that she was with me.

It was extremely cold, for one thing.

And for another, the darkness was smothering.

Molly's circle of light only reached a foot in each direction, and what light there was glowed dimly, casting shadows around us. Unfortunately no one else could add to the light, or else we'd be busted for underage magic. Although I wasn't sure if the Ministry could even trace us in this strange place, as it was unlike anywhere I had ever seen or heard of.

Unsure of which direction we should walk in, or even which way we were facing, we just continued toward what we assumed was forwards. We had only taken a few steps away from the outside world, yet the door seemed a mile away. A second later, the door suddenly slammed shut, and we were plunged into total darkness, as Molly had lost her concentration. Our only light source had disappeared.

Sheer panic. That was what I felt, especially since Rose had slipped away from me in the darkness. I stumbled blindly forward, figuring that was as good of a way to head as any, and I kept a tight grip on my wand, even though I technically couldn't use it for anything. I guess I could always stab someone in the eye with it.

I took a few careful steps forward then froze as I felt a hand grip down like a vice around my ankle. Stifling a scream and trying to stay calm, I slammed my other foot down in the direction of where I assumed the person's arm was, and I was satisfied to hear them curse and release their grip on my ankle.

Being naturally curious, I turned back towards the person, who was still uttering a string of curses that would make my mum stick a bar of soap in their mouth without hesitation. It had taken me a moment to process, but I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"James."

"Mike? Was that really bloody necessary?" I pictured him cradling his injured hand to his chest.

"Well was it really bloody necessary to run off like that and scare us all to death?" I asked. James was quiet for a moment, and I thought maybe he actually felt bad about what he'd done.

"Well. . . . No, but. . ." James hesitated.

"Come on, you big baby," I said, rolling my eyes. I reached my hand out towards where his voice was coming from and managed to grip his shoulder, then I reached for his arm with my other hand and hoisted him up to his feet.

"You're lucky you didn't break my hand," James added. "I wouldn't have been able to play quidditch and then us Gryffs would've lost the Cup and it would all be your fault."

I sighed. There was the arrogant tough guy act again. Whenever I thought I had finally reached the real James, he just hid behind his wall of masculinity, shutting me out.

"On second thought, I'm such a brilliant Seeker that I probably would've been able to play with just one hand. Did I ever tell you about the game where I caught the Snitch hanging upside down on my broom and won us the Quidditch Cup? It was the championship game, and ..." James continued to tell yet another tale of his greatness, which I had, in fact, already heard. Multiple times.

I tuned James out as we walked forward again. I was starting to wonder if this room would ever end, or if Molly would ever give us some light again, or if Rose was safe when my foot hit something solid. I bit back a yelp and held my hands in front of me to touch whatever it was I had run into. I kept reaching out farther and farther and almost lost my balance when my fingertips finally made contact with whatever it was. I instantly jerked my hands back as the sensation of cold so icy that it burned and stung my fingers, and this time I couldn't hold a shout of pain and surprise back.

". . .I could see the Bludger heading straight for me, but the Snitch- and the match- was just within my reach, and I. . ." James trailed off as he heard my yell, which actually surprised me. I was even more shocked when he asked, "Mike, you okay, mate?"

My reply died in my throat as a bright circle of light appeared off to my left. _Is that who I think it is? _My thought was answered as the light lowered to reveal a shadowed face: Molly. _Finally._

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**A/N: What are your thoughts on this chapter? As always, feel free to tell me in a review or a message! They really do make my day and I do appreciate the time it takes to leave one! Thank you for reading, and I'll be back next Monday!**


	7. The 'Exotic' New Kid

**[Sam]**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

My heart seemed to plummet to the floor, my body frozen in place, still staring numbly at the front of the room and Marvin. Marvin, the kid who my instincts told me to run away from and never look back. And now he had been pronounced a member of my House.

All around me, my fellow Gryffs (a term I adopted from James) exploded into applause and cheering, Marvin accepting it all with a confident smile. _Don't they realize this guy is bad news? _I wanted to scream at them that he didn't deserve their praise, that he wasn't to be trusted, but he was already striding over towards my table, my friends, and unfortunately, the empty seat right beside me. The one Teddy always took.

I hurriedly became interested with the table in front of me, hoping that he would pass me by even though I knew that tactic wouldn't work on him. Sure enough-

"Mind if I sit here?" A smooth baritone voice asked, and I shrugged, still not wanting to meet his eyes.

"What Sammy here means to say is, of course an attractive male can sit with us," Alli answered with a smile, while Louise giggled and blushed slightly.

"What can I say?" He laughed a deep, infectious laugh as he sat down beside me. I forced myself to keep my expression blank. I still didn't trust him, however charming he seemed. "I'm a true ladies' man- that's why I moved to England. It got a bit too crazy back home, if you know what I mean." He winked and Louise giggled again.

Headmaster Shay cleared his throat from the front of the room to quiet the friendly chatter that had started up. "Now that we're done there, I think it's time for a feast, am I right? Let's not waste any time then. Happy eating, everyone!" He clapped his hands twice and the four long tables became magically filled to the brim with delicious food of every imaginable kind.

I attacked a plate of roast beef in front of me like a starved animal, scooting it towards me just as Marvin reached out to take some of it. He gave me a knowing smile and I quickly busied myself with eating to avoid him.

I got a few minutes to myself, but it was too good to be true. "So… Sammy, is it?" Marvin asked, trying to make awkward small talk that I wasn't in the mood for. I gave him a sharp look in response, hoping he'd get the message that I didn't want to talk.

"Oh, the silent treatment," he added, as if my glare had slid right off of him.

"What?" Alli asked him after licking chocolate cake crumbs off of her fork.

Marvin chuckled. "It's this game we used to play as kids. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it." Alli and Louise shook their heads, looking captivated. "Well, it's really stupid, actually. But as a kid, if you were mad at someone, you wouldn't say anything to them. At all. For however long you could last without saying a word to them, and that's why it's the silent treatment. Example A," he gestured at me with a smirk.

"Sorry to surprise you, but I'm not in the mood for this," I snapped to wipe the stupid grin off his face. And I convinced myself that he deserved it for whatever he did/would do that made my warning system go on high alert. It worked, and he looked so genuinely hurt that I actually felt sorry for being so rude after my brain had processed what had just come out of my mouth.

"Geez, Sam," Louise said softly. "You don't have to be so mean all the time."

I couldn't come up with anything to say to that, and I didn't trust myself not to accidentally offend Louise next, so I settled on violently stabbing my food.

"Hey, it's cool," Marvin said to fill the awkward silence. "I'm just proud of the fact that I got the brooding ginger to finally speak!" He laughed, and Alli and Louise joined in, a little too enthusiastically.

"I'm not brooding," I retorted. "And I'm not. . . Okay, well I am a ginger but I'm definitely not brooding!"

"Well what are you then?" Marvin asked, raising an eyebrow with a slight smirk.

"I'm an independent, stubborn, sometimes violent, intelligent woman who can think for herself and doesn't need help from anyone! And it'll take more than a pretty smile and a funny line to win me over," I said with a harsh edge to my voice that I didn't even attempt to tone down.

"Challenge accepted," Marvin replied simply, thoroughly confusing me. I just couldn't get a read on this guy. And yet again, I was struck speechless. He held my gaze for a beat, and then I looked away to Alli and Louise, who were both looking at us with slightly amused expressions.

"Whatever," I muttered under my breath before spooning some pudding into my mouth so I wouldn't be expected to say anything more. Needless to say, the pudding was delicious and made me feel a bit better, or less 'brooding', I guess.

"So, America, huh?" Alli asked after a pause.

"Yup," Marvin replied, then took a bite of his BLT sandwich, surprisingly not elaborating.

"Where from?" Louise prompted him, finally talking instead of just giggling like a little girl.

"The north," he replied quickly. A little too quickly, if you ask me. Like he was hiding something. My suspicions reappeared in a flash.

"Where in the north?" Alli asked him yet again. I made sure to watch Marvin's expression when he replied, looking for his 'tell'; the giveaway that he was lying.

"Up at the northern border of North Dakota," Marvin answered. His face gave away nothing, unfortunately. He was definitely skilled at controlling his facial expressions, but I could still tell he was uncomfortable because his earlier charm was not as present anymore, and he had an almost angry tone in his voice now.

"Funny, I have a cousin from there but you don't talk like him," I lied, testing him. _A cousin from North Dakota, yeah right! _I was just hoping Alli and Louise would keep their mouths shut.

"Well, you know, there are different dialects throughout the state, and I've spent some time in Canada as well," he answered coolly, his ice blue eyes staring back intensely.

"Oh, wow, you're so exotic," Louise interjected, completely serious. I had to hold back a snort, and I must not have been completely successful because Marvin looked over to me and smiled knowingly. Apparently the charm had been turned back on, like the flip of a switch.

"Shut up, Lou," Alli teased, giving her a little shove. "Do you think before you speak?"

"Sometimes," she replied absentmindedly with a sigh, still staring at Marvin.

"Not that I don't appreciate the thought and all, but I don't really appreciate you staring at me, Lou. . ." Marvin adopted Alli's nickname and Louise seemed ready to faint when he said her name. I snorted again (very ladylike, I know) and Louise seemed to snap out of her trance after Alli waved her hand in front of Louise's face. Marvin laughed, not unkindly, and Louise blushed and looked away. I rolled my eyes.

I heard someone clear their throat loudly, and the room quieted as we turned to look at the headmaster, who was standing in front of the ancient podium with the golden owl spreading his wings proudly on the front.

"I trust you all ate well," Shay began with a smile, "because I know I did! But now it's time for me to inform you of our normal school rules." There were a few groans from the older students, but Shay ignored them. "As usual, no one is to go into the Forbidden Forest- honestly, the word 'forbidden' is in the title for a reason! Also, there will be no dueling outside of the classroom setting, and Weasley products are not allowed due to numerous pranks getting out of control and ending with students in the Hospital Wing."

I groaned inwardly, imagining the disaster that was to come when James and Freddie heard the news. By banning Weasley products, the Headmaster had actually increased the chances of pranksters appearing. Not that I didn't mind a bit of pranking. . . . It would certainly make this year more interesting.

However, Headmaster Shay wasn't finished just yet. "Lastly, remember to be respectful to your teachers and peers, which is pretty much a given. Anyways, now I'll hand you over to your Prefects, who will take everyone back to their respective house common rooms. And I know you're all excited to be back here, but please do try to sleep! Your first day of class is tomorrow! So, Prefects, if you will?" He gestured towards the tables and the door and myself and five students stood up.

"What's a Prefect?" Marvin asked, looking genuinely confused. "And who are ours?"

In answer, I stood up somewhat reluctantly, ignoring surprised looks from my table mates. Apparently I had forgotten to put on my badge. Oh well.

I looked around and caught Nico looking at me. He gave me another wink with a slight smile and I smiled back, relieved that there were no hard feelings between us, which took a little weight off my shoulders.

Scorpius, of course, was avoiding me like the plague, and when I finally caught his eye, he sneered a little and looked away. No surprise there; his 'friends' were around and he couldn't be caught associating with a Gryffindor in public.

I noticed the Puffs (another term from James) were already starting to file out, led by Kali Longbottom and the lanky boy I didn't know, and the Slytherins (James' name for them was 'bloody idiots', which was hilarious, but I didn't like to think of my brother that way, even if he could be a prat) walked out behind them.

Wordlessly, I strode forward after the Claws, faking confidence I didn't have in hopes that my housemates would get the idea and follow me so I didn't have to shout. Marvin fell into step beside me, unfortunately, but when I looked back I saw that everyone was smart enough to realize they needed to follow me.

If anything, I was glad Marvin didn't try to talk to me again, even though I was a little upset that he was taller than me by about two inches. The fact that I was almost six feet tall meant I was taller than almost all the girls and an even height with most of the guys. I was proud of my height though, and I did use it for intimidation sometimes. Okay, maybe a little more than sometimes. But it made me happy that only a handful of people in the school were taller than me, and most of them were guys, but the only people I was close to that were taller than me were James and Teddy. And apparently Marvin, too.

I heard a rustle to my left and looked over (and down) to find a first-year Gryff struggling to keep up with my long strides. I slowed down to match the boy's pace, and mentally begged Marvin to leave but he stayed, of course. It was like he was my shadow, or felt the need to be my bodyguard, or something equally stupid.

"Hello there, Miss Prefect," the boy said cheerfully, looking up at me.

"Hello to you, too, Isaac," I replied with a smile, remembering him from the small portion of the Sorting that I had actually been attentive for.

"Wow," Isaac said, his eyes wide as saucers. "You know my name! But I don't know yours. . ." He trailed off, looking expectantly up at me. I thought I heard Marvin chuckle softly but I ignored him again.

"My name's Sam Malfoy," I replied. Don't ask me why I decided to say my full name, but it was out there now. I could've sworn that Marvin tensed up slightly upon hearing my last name, but there was no way that he would've heard the Malfoy name if he really was from America/Canada.

"Oh. That's a nice name," Isaac said, with no indication that he recognized my last name in any way, thankfully. "Do you have any siblings? I have two younger sisters. What do your parents do? Mine are veterinarians- they take care of people's pets! Do you have a pet? I have six back home! I wanted to be just like my parents until I got my Hogwarts letter, and now I want to be a Healer so I can back and help them out! Hey, aren't there supposed to be two Prefects for each House? Where's the other one?" I must've looked overwhelmed, because he added, "Sorry, I talk really fast when I'm excited. My parents say that it's because I drink too many caffeinated drinks, but I still drink soda anyways! Wait- don't tell them I said that!"

I laughed kindly. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me! To answer your questions: I have a twin brother who's in Slytherin, my parents both work at the Ministry of Magic, I have a cat named Mystery, and yes, there are supposed to be two Prefects for each House, but I have no clue where the other one is." A wave of worry hit me again at the thought that something could have happened to Teddy and James and Freddie and their family.

Marvin must've seen me tense up, because he reached over and started rubbing my back comfortingly. Anger flashed within me. What made him think he could touch me? I wanted to smack his arm away from me and maybe punch him in the stomach for good measure. I wanted him to leave me alone. I wanted to know why he seemed so familiar. I wanted to know his story, because what he was saying at dinner didn't add up. But surprisingly, I also wanted him to keep rubbing my back, so I let it happen and kept walking along.

Isaac saw the exchange between us and gave me a weird look. "Are you guys, you know, _in love _or whatever?"

"No!" I shouted, maybe a little too harshly, and stepped away from Marvin like I had been burned. Marvin looked a little offended so I added more calmly, "No, we're just friends."

"We're friends?" Marvin asked me, and I mentally cursed myself for saying that. I couldn't be friends with someone I didn't trust completely.

"Yeah, sure," I said cooly, attempting to make the situation less awkward. Plus, you know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies (or guys you are suspicious of being evil) closer.

Isaac flashed me a 'yeah right' look, and I tried not to blush. It's not like there was anything that I should be embarrassed about. . . .other than Marvin practically putting his arm around me like we were a couple. I could feel my cheeks heat up at the thought of anyone seeing that little scene. I couldn't let people think I was going soft and getting all flirty and emotional like every other girl in the school.

"Are we there yet?" Isaac asked impatiently, back to sounding like the little kid he was.

I laughed and replied, "Not yet! You'll know when we get there because you'll see the fat singing lady." Marvin and Isaac both laughed, and then simultaneously said:

"No way!"

"That's derogatory."

Surprisingly, the second statement had come from Isaac, who apparently had an advanced vocabulary for an eleven-year-old boy.

"Geez, Isaac," I said. "Are you sure you don't belong in Ravenclaw?"

"They're the smart ones, right?" He asked me, and I nodded. "Well, I guess I should take that as a compliment then! But I think my parents will be really proud that I got into the house for brave people." He stuck his chest out and strutted a few steps, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, Sam," Marvin nudged me. "Aren't you supposed to be giving the newbies a tour and whatnot?"

"Hey! Don't forget that you're a newbie too!" I teased, swatting his arm. Although he did have a point. "First-years, front and center!" I called, walking backwards so I could talk face-to-face with everyone. I had a thing about always making eye contact when I was talking to someone, and I know that it sometimes made me seem too intense but it was just the way I was raised.

Isaac mock-saluted me and the other eight first-years followed his lead, some looking more frightened than others.

"At ease," I grinned, trying to not seem so intimidating since I didn't have Teddy to pull out the charm when I was coming on too strong. "Now, my name's Sam, and there's a guy who will be helping me too but he's not here right now. Anyways, I'm one of two Gryffindor Prefects and it's my job to answer questions you guys have, show you around, all that good stuff." I noticed two of the girls whispering to each other and trying to appear like they weren't looking at Marvin and blushing. "And this is Marvin, in case you're wondering," I added, looking straight at the two girls who giggled when Marvin gave the newbies a little wave and a smile.

_Geez, _I thought, turning and walking forwards again. _If this is how eleven-year-olds act around him, imagine a bunch of hormonal teenage girls catching a glimpse of him. It makes you feel kind of bad for him._

_Then again, it's not like I care._

I tried to squash the jealousy that was threatening to show at the thought of Marvin with another girl, confused as to why I was even jealous in the first place.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I forgot to warn the first-years abou the whole "moving staircase" thing as I began walking up the first flight of stairs we had to take to reach Gryffindor Tower.

"Are you sure these are safe, Sam?" Marvin asked me, and I looked back to find that all the older students had already gathered on the stairs while the group of newbies (including Marvin) looked extremely nervous and apprehensive at the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, for crying out loud," I muttered to myself as I pushed my way back down to the bottom of the stairs.

After taking a few minutes to reassure the small group that they had nothing to worry about, they finally all stepped up onto the stairs just as we started moving, Isaac being the first to join and Marvin the last.

I chuckled inwardly at the look on Marvin's face as the stairs began moving upwards. Apparently Mr. Suave turned into a helpless baby when it came to heights. I tucked that information away for later use; never know when I might need a little leverage over him.

The staircase touched down at a landing while some of the oldest Gryffs led the way onto the second staircase we had to ride. I followed along at the back of the group with the first-years, content to let the older students take over and be out of the spotlight for a little while.

After making sure everyone had safely made it to solid, non-moving ground again, even if we had to take a detour because the stairs didn't move the direction we wanted, I reluctantly moved to the front of the group again to lead the way to the common room, Marvin and Isaac tagging along behind me like some kind of celebrity entourage.

The sound of a woman singing pushed the thoughts of my two new 'bodyguards' out of my head. "Do you guys hear that?" I asked the newbies, most of them nodding and looking curiously around to find the source of the singing.

I turned the last corner and there it was: the portrait holding the singing lady, in charge of guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Dang, I thought you were joking about the whole 'fat lady singing' thing." Marvin remarked under his breath, making me jump. He was suddenly located a lot closer to me than I had thought, but I covered for the jump with a snort and eye roll.

"Did you really think I would make that up?" I asked Marvin, who gave me a pretty sassy 'uh, duh' look that was actually kind of attractive- wait, _what?_

Focusing on ignoring that train of thought and trying not to blush, I didn't notice I had walked right past the singing lady. Oops.

Now I could definitely feel my cheeks heating up, but I walked back to everyone with as much dignity and purpose as I could muster.

"Hello!" I said to the portrait.

"Ugh," she replied, irritated. "You interrupted my singing! Just let me finish my song!" She began singing again with more passion than before, but she was still way off-key.

"Would you just let us in?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest, quickly becoming annoyed. She was in a bad mood today, compared to her normal cheery self.

"You people are so rude to me these days! It's always 'let us inside', 'we need in', interrupting my songs, and half the time no one even remembers the password! Do _you _know the password?"

"Um," I said intelligently.

"Aha!" She cried triumphantly. "I knew you didn't know it because I heard what happened at the Prefects meeting earlier today! You really mucked things up there."

"Thank you for being so helpful," I snapped. "I'll take that advice to heart if you just let us in." _And stop being so bloody difficult all the time,_ I wanted to add.

"Yes, alright, but just so you know, the password is 'Phoenix feather'." The portrait swung outward, revealing a door behind its frame.

I had to duck to step through the door to avoid hitting my head, which had actually happened to me so many times over the past years that I became really skilled at making a Pepper-Up potion to help with the headaches.

Upon entering the common room, I stepped out of the path of the older Gryffs on their way to the dorms and herded the first-years along with me. Marvin followed, of course, but then I realized he probably had no clue where to go either.

Once the rest of the kids in my House had cleared out to their respective rooms (except for a few who stayed to hang out in the common room), I turned to my little group of newbies, who were all looking around and taking everything in.

"Okay, so this is the Gryffindor common room," I said, feeling very much like a tour guide. "Each House has their own respective common room and dorms, and each House's common room is unique and exclusive, meaning no one from another House is allowed in here and none of you can go inside anyone else's common rooms either.

"The dorms where you sleep are off this way," I continued, moving towards the two staircases towards the back of the common room. "The girls' rooms are up the left staircase, and the guys' are up the right one. Guys are not allowed in the girls' dorms, however, girls can go into the guys'." I noticed some of the guys looking upset at that and held up a hand. "Don't start complaining about how it's 'unfair'," I made air quotes with my fingers. "That's how things have always been, simply because the founders of Hogwarts figured that girls were more trustworthy than guys. I don't know if that's necessarily true," I added with a shrug, "but that's just the way things are." This tour was getting a bit long for my liking, so I decided to finish it off.

"You guys are free to hang out or whatever in here for however long you like, but that doesn't mean you can slack off and be lazy all day." I felt like I should say something more, but I was drawing a blank. "So, I guess that's the end of this little tour, and if you guys have questions, feel free to ask me or the other Prefect, who I hope will be here soon."

With a new round of worry over Teddy and his family rocking through me, I headed left, intending to go to my room, when a hand caught my arm.

Reflexes kicking in from years of self defense classes my father had made me suffer through, I grabbed the person's wrist with my free hand and twisted it up so their arm was wrenched up against their back. I was in the perfect position to dislocate their shoulder or break their arm by pushing their arm up further, until I realized who I was restraining.

Hastily releasing my grip on his arm and making sure that none of the students in the common room had noticed anything amiss, I stared up boldly at the face of my 'attacker'.

"Sorry if I frightened you, Sam," Marvin said after working out the kink in his shoulder. "Although I must say, you've got quite the grip." He started rubbing the wrist I had grabbed.

"Yeah, I don't really like being touched," I explained. "Plus, my dad made me take all these self-defense classes and when you add in my Quidditch reflexes, you didn't even have a chance."

I hadn't meant it as a joke, but Marvin laughed anyways. "Well, remind me never to get on your bad side. I just wanted to ask you before you left about what the Fat Lady portrait was talking about. . . . Something about a meeting?" His blue eyes suddenly turned hard and calculating, even though the rest of his body language said he was just curious.

"Oh, that," I scoffed, trying to play it off as something insignificant, not sure if I trusted the look in his eyes. "I just got into an argument with the Head Boy is all. No big deal."

"Okay," he said. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not.

I faked a yawn. "Oh, man. I'm exhausted! I'm gonna head off to bed. See you in the morning and all that." I walked up the left staircase as quickly as I could without seeming to rush. I didn't like the change that had suddenly occurred in Marvin.

The Prefect room was the first one in the long hallway, as the dorm rooms were organized by seniority, with the first-year girls having the longest walk and the Prefect's room being the shortest walk, luckily.

With all the thoughts swirling around in my head, it would've been a struggle for me to find the right dorm room, and even so, I still tried to pull the door open a couple times before I realized I had to push it open.

I closed the door behind me, only bothering to take off my robes before I climbed into my bed, still fully clothed.

I hadn't realized how tired I actually was until I sank back onto the soft pillows of the queen-sized bed. I smiled at the fact that my feet didn't hang off the bed, and my last coherent thought after that was of the dark-haired boy from my prophetic dream and how I was sure I knew him, but before I could piece everything together, exhaustion won out and sleep overtook me.

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**A/N: A new student's appearance is sure to mix things up for Sam and the gang! I'd love to hear any input from y'all, and thanks to everyone for sticking with me and this story!**


	8. Let the Pranking Begin

**Disclaimer: Pointing out that I only own my OCs and the plot, while J.K. Rowling owns all the other brilliance!**

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**[Mike]**

"Oi! Molly!" James yelled, waving even though she most likely couldn't see us in the darkness.

"James?" She asked, confused. James and I hustled over to her, our only source of light in this dreaded room we were stuck in.

Teddy shouted upon seeing James, giving him a brotherly clap on the shoulder and then pulling him in and mussing his hair. James pushed him away, laughing, and I felt a twinge of something. Jealousy? No. . . . Why would I be jealous of their easy relationship?

As this thought occurred to me, I was tackled yet again, although this time Rose and Lily were more careful with the amount of force they used in their hug.

"I thought we said no more tackling me," I joked, smiling at Lily, who smiled and stuck her tongue out at me. I used the opportunity to take a quick head count and make sure everyone was here, which, to my immense relief, everyone was.

"Sorry," she replied with a laugh, looking up at me with her big, innocent green eyes.

"We just had to!" Rose squealed. "I was so scared I had lost you in this awful place, who knows where we even _are_, and I just had to! You're my twin brother, after all!" She hugged me again.

"Although James has another thing coming," Lily added, staring daggers at James.

"Oh no you don't," I said, wrapping my arm around Lily's waist so she couldn't run off and hex James into oblivion.

"That was classic, mate," Fred told James, referring to James's earlier stunt, and they both shared a good laugh.

"It was not 'classic'," Rose scolded, making air quotes in the most angry way I had ever seen. "It was irresponsible and immature. You shouldn't pull stupid stunts like that, James! Especially not ones that lead us to believe you're hurt!" James looked a bit ashamed, but I knew he'd keep pulling pranks anyways. No one could stop him and his little group of Teddy, Fred, and Sam Malfoy from pranking.

I refused to dwell on the subject of Sam, so I decided to describe to Molly the strange icy object I had run into earlier.

"I think it was right about here," I said, leading her to where I thought the metal thing had been. Directions were confusing in the disorienting dark room, but it was James who spotted it, which was probably due to his keen Seeker eyesight.

"What in the world. . . ." Molly trailed off, bringing the light from her wand upward to see how tall the thing was. She flicked her wrist and the light shot up a few feet above us and hovered there.

_Nice spellwork, _I thought. Molly wasn't the top of her year in Charms for nothing.

The overhead ball of light allowed us to fully take in the object, and I heard a few gasps as we all stared at the contraption in front of us.

It was about seven feet tall and there were thick tubes and wires running all over it. All the tubes seemed to come from the back of the thing and then plug into the sides of a glass case that looked just big enough for a person around James's height. It was sitting on a metal stand with a metal frame. On the left side of the frame, the wires connected to a metal box with a screen on the front that read, _00:00:00:00:00:00_, in a digital red font, like some kind of Muggle clock. The whole entire length of the object was frosted over; some parts more than others. The thing that stumped me was not only the purpose of it but how whoever put it here expected the clock-like device to function without electricity and without becoming to cold to work. It almost seemed like a Muggle object, but why on earth would something Muggle-made be in St. Mungo's?

"Don't touch it," I warned Fred, who had been reaching out towards the glass case. "That's how I found it, and it was so cold that it felt like my hand was going to burn clean off." My voice seemed too loud in the silence that had been caused by everyone else being struck speechless.

"I have no idea what it is," Rose mumbled, disappointed and a bit angry with herself for not being able to figure it out.

"We don't have to know specifically what it _is_," Molly said, trying to get Rose to stop being so hard on herself. "Let's just brainstorm on what it _does._"

"Well, it looks like someone James's size could fit in that center chamber," Victoire pointed out.

"But why would it need to be so cold?" Albus asked.

"And what's that weird number box on the side?" Lucy continued the stream of questions.

"Most importantly," Teddy added. "How did it get here?"

"Well, now that we've all used our brains a bit, how's about we get out of here?" James said, gesturing behind the frozen behemoth.

"What are you on about, James?" Rose asked him, obviously not believing him for a second.

"No, seriously, Rose," I said, walking around the metal object to stand by James. "It looks like there might be a door back here!"

Molly's expertly cast ball of light followed overhead as the rest of the group joined James and I.

Just ahead of us, although it was hard to judge how far, there was a sliver of light that resembled a door that had been left slightly ajar.

James couldn't help himself and let out a triumphant laugh, saying, "I told you so!" He then began to lead us once again towards a door, hopefully one that would get us out of wherever we were.

I sighed with relief as James opened what was, indeed, a door to the outside world. We all rushed through the door, anxious to be out of the strange room with the strange metal contraption.

Looking around, I realized that we were back in front of the door to the room that I had woken up in after apparently cracking my head open. I had a hunch and turned around to see nothing but the smooth white wall of the hallway, with no trace that there had been a door in the middle of it, just as I had suspected.

"What are y'all doing just standing around out here?" We all whipped around as one to see a very confused Healer Jordan. "Weren't y'all s'posed to be heading off to school?"

"Uh, yes, we were," Rose answered her. "But, if you wouldn't mind telling us, how long have we been gone?"

"Gone?" She asked, looking even more confused. "Why, I just finished telling y'all how to get to where you were s'posed to go, and then I started walking off to the front desk, but I realized I had forgotten my clipboard, so I came back up here to get it and I see y'all just taking up space in the hallway, looking as spooked as if y'all had seen a ghost."

Rose only looked thoughtful upon hearing this, and I thought I heard her mutter something like, "I figured as much." Then she said at a normal volume, "Alright, but I'm afraid I've forgotten where to go, and I wouldn't want to get lost in here! Would you mind showing us the way out?" She blinked innocently.

"Sure," Healer Jordan replied, rolling her eyes and sounding slightly irked. "I guess I can do that real quick."

She brushed past us and set a very brisk pace, her heels clicking on the tile as she lead us around corners and past numerous doors. I decided that I definitely would've gotten lost without her; this place was confusing, and everything looked the same no matter how many turns we took.

Healer Jordan stopped abruptly in front of us, causing James to run into her. She whirled around angrily until she saw who had run into her, then she blushed and turned back to open the door in front of her. I shook my head. James didn't even have to _do _anything, and yet women still blushed and acted like fools around him. Everyone except Sam- NO. I shut down that train of thought before it was even finished.

"Just head straight on in and there's a fireplace and Floo Powder set up for y'all. Assuming you don't need me to show you how to do that, too." Healer Jordan added sarcastically with a glance at Rose, who blushed and looked down while James and Fred tried to turn their laughter in coughs.

When no one said anything, Healer Jordan nodded and set off back the way she came, her heels still clicking loudly as she walked away.

"Well she was pleasant," Lily muttered, and Rose and I looked at each other and smiled. Lily didn't know how much she had sounded like her mother with that statement.

"Whoa, you guys are having one of those weird twin moments," Hugo said from beside Rose. I just looked at Rose again and we shared a smirk, then turned to Hugo simultaneously. "Ah! Stop it! It's so weird!" He yelled, moving to stand in between us, presumably to stop us from having another 'twin moment'.

"But you love us anyways," I said to him as both Rose and I reached down to ruffle his hair. He ducked away from our hands but stayed in between us.

"Not to interrupt the touching family moment or anything," James said to us, "but I'm interrupting the moment." He started dragging me towards the door by my arm until I shook him off and followed of my own accord.

"Should we shut the door?" Rose whispered to me.

"No, we'd better leave it the way it was," I whispered back, not quite sure why I felt that way, but Rose nodded and left the door open.

We walked through a corridor that widened out to accommodate for the fireplace that looked like it had seen better days. I was a bit cautious about Flooing from here, but James threw caution to the wind, of course, and took a big handful of the powder out of the pot on the marble and stepped into the fireplace.

"The Headmaster's office!" He shouted, making sure to enunciate, and threw down the powder. With a flash of green fire, James was gone. Teddy stepped up to repeat James's actions, and the rest of the group lined up behind him. We were all used to using Floo Powder and the Floo Network, so none of us were really doubting that we'd all end up in the right place.

After waiting for each of my relatives to file through, Rose being the last of which, I hurried to take a handful of the smooth gray Floo Powder and be on my way.

"The Headmaster's office!" I made sure to copy what everyone else had said and threw my handful of powder down at my feet. I closed my eyes and heard the _whoosh_ of the green flames roaring up around me.

I opened my eyes a second later to find myself surrounded by the familiar scenery of the Headmaster's office.

"Ah, Mike Weasley, my Gryffindor Prefect!" Headmaster Shay looked up from papers on his desk with a smile, seeming very grandfatherly.

"Hello, Sir," I replied, brushing soot from the fireplace off my clothes and hoping he didn't mind that it was getting all over his floor. "Where's the rest of my family?"

"Oh, there's no need to call me Sir," he said. "I think we're to the point where you can call me Damian. And as it's currently the middle of the night, I sent them back to their dorms, that is, except for you, Rose, and Teddy."

I looked around to see Rose and Teddy were sitting over by the Headmaster's desk. How had I not noticed them? "Sorry, Sir- er, I mean, Damian- but why did you keep us three here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you, of course!" He gestured for me to sit and join Rose and Teddy by his desk. I suddenly realized why he had kept us three here.

"It's about the Prefect business, isn't it?" I asked, taking a seat next to Rose.

"Right you are, Mike!" Damian said. "I wanted to talk to you about the very exciting Prefects' meeting you and Rose missed, and Teddy is here because I had them tell me about what happened between you two earlier." I didn't dare look over at Teddy, for fear that he'd just get upset again.

"You said the meeting was exciting?" Rose asked him, clearly having a different opinion on the matter.

Damian laughed heartily. "You know it's bad when even Rose Weasley can't sit through a meeting!" Teddy and I chuckled and Rose blushed. "But yes, it was exciting, to say the least. Our very own Samantha Malfoy got into an argument with the Head Boy, and she threw an excellent silencing spell at him, then ran off to who knows where. She was present for dinner, though, and I noticed her chumming it up with the new student."

"Wait- new student?" I asked him. That was the only thing I was able to process at the moment. _Sam had cast a spell on the Head Boy? _What did he do to cause her to flip out? Granted, Sam was a bit temperamental and hot-headed (I smiled at my unintentional pun: Sam was a ginger, hot headed, ha!) but whatever the Head Boy had done to deserve that, he had another thing coming.

Rose reached over and put her hand on mine, uncurling the fist I had made without realizing it. I looked up and smiled at her and she gave me a knowing smirk, as if she knew exactly what I had been thinking.

"Yes, yes," Damian's voice brought my attention back to him. "We have a new student, a transfer from America. His name is Marvin Dilerd, and he was actually sorted into your House, Mike. Yours and Teddy's, that is. So I expect that you'll be spending a lot of time around him this year, as he's joining the sixth-years of Gryffindor. He seems like a wonderful boy." I was really more concerned about the fact that the Headmaster had said Sam was 'chumming it up' with him.

"Well, Miss Weasley, I'll let you go back to your House now," the Headmaster said. "It'd do you well to meet with the other Ravenclaw Prefect, Mr. Nico Milani."

Rose nodded and then gave my hand a squeeze before standing up and walking out of the room, tossing her frizzy auburn hair over her shoulder.

"So," Teddy started. "Let's get this over with so it can be as easy and painless as possible."

"What do you mean?" The Headmaster asked him.

"Well, I know I'm only here because you're going to tell me how great of a student I am, and how I shouldn't be upset that I'm not a Prefect because I'm still a 'good person'." Teddy's hair was starting to turn red again, which was admittedly making me a little nervous.

"Calm down, Mr. Lupin," Damian said cooly. "I know how bitter and upset you must be about this, and I'm not going to tell you not to be."

"You're not?" Teddy asked, shocked. Thankfully his hair had returned back to its normal turquoise coloring.

"Of course not! Why would I reprimand you for feeling the way that any normal person would? I completely understand where you're coming from. Although all those things you said about being a great student and person are true."

"But then why did you choose Mike over me? No offense, Mike," Teddy added, and I waved him off with a flick of my hand and a small smile. I was actually wondering the same thing.

"Well, you see," Damian started. He seemed to be looking for the right words, taking a moment before continuing. "Both of you exhibit model behavior, for sure. It's hard because you're very similar yet at the same time very different. Teddy has more of the charisma and qualities of a natural leader, but Mike has a sort of quiet authority, and in choosing Mike to be Prefect, I simply wanted to bring out those qualities in him."

"So you're saying that I'm a Prefect because you want be to be more outgoing?" I asked the Headmaster, still not quite understanding why he chose me.

"Well, I guess you could put it that way," Damian laughed. "Although it sounds quite silly when you phrase it that way. Listen, I have complete confidence that you two will be able to put this aside and be able to get along with each other. I still expect great things from _both_ of you." He looked at each of us in turn, then winked.

"Now, why don't you two head on up to Gryffindor tower and get some shut-eye?" Damian suggested with a smile.

Teddy and I stood up and told the Headmaster goodbye and goodnight, then we took the the stairs out of the Headmaster's office and into the hallway. As our feet left the last stair, the stone gargoyle hopped back into place, looking as if he had never moved an inch.

We walked side by side on our route to the common room, both of us moving by rote more than anything. It was our sixth year at Hogwarts, after all. We knew practically all there was to know about it.

The whole trip passed in awkward silence, neither of us quite knowing what to say. I wished yet again that the Headmaster hadn't chose me as Prefect. I didn't want to be a leader. I didn't want to be in the spotlight. I was perfectly content to step back and let someone else take the lead. Being courageous and taking charge was more Teddy's thing. The Headmaster had said it himself: Teddy was the natural leader. So why did I have to get the stupid badge?

"I don't want to be Prefect, okay?" I told Teddy over the sound of the Fat Lady's singing. We stopped and faced each other in front of the entrance to the common room.

"But you've got the badge, so it doesn't really matter, now does it?" Teddy replied bitterly.

I sighed and ran a hand through my short hair. "Do you think I could just give it to you and be done with it?"

Teddy laughed once, a harsh sound. "If only it were that simple, Mikey." He turned to walk towards the portrait entrance, and I noticed the Fat Lady had stopped singing and was now mouthing random words to look like she was singing when really she was listening intently to our conversation.

I reached out and put a hand on his arm to stop him from walking away. "Look, Teddy. I know what's done is done and we can't change it, but I don't want this to come between us. I'll probably need your help running things anyways because I'm awful at taking charge of things." Teddy actually laughed at that, and I smiled. "So, no hard feelings?" I stuck my hand out to him.

He looked at my outstretched hand for a moment, and I was afraid he wouldn't take it, but then he reached out and shook my hand and pulled me in for one of those clap-on-the-shoulder, brotherly kind of hugs. Relieved, I went along with it.

"No hard feelings," Teddy said, pulling back with a smile.

I opened my mouth to say something back when I heard the sound of clapping and. . . . sniffling? _What?_

"Beautiful, just beautiful." The Fat Lady said, dabbing at tears in her eyes. "Truly touching, boys." She blew her nose loudly into a hankerchief.

Teddy and I looked at each other and I almost lost it. I could tell he was struggling to hold back his laughter, and when we looked at each other I almost started busting up in laughter too.

"Go on in, you wonderful children, you." The Fat Lady applauded us as she swung her portrait open.

I held it together only until Teddy had closed the common room door behind us, and once it was closed, I couldn't keep it together any longer and let out all the laughter I had been holding in. I could hear Teddy doing the same next to me.

Pretty soon we were both doubled over laughing so hard we were gasping for air. I had to put my hand on Teddy's shoulder to steady myself, and when I glanced up at him (I was a bit short for my age; Teddy was abnormally tall) I saw he was grinning like a madman; the familiar mischievous glint had returned to his eyes.

"Ah, what say we give these people a show?" Teddy asked, winking. He looked pointedly off to the side, where I noticed about ten students that were still in the common room giving us strange looks.

I must've looked uncertain, because Teddy added, "I know you've never been a prankster, Mike, but this is your chance! C'mon, pleeeeeeease?" He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, using his Metamorphmagus powers to make his eyes bigger and wider and even more pleading. Teddy was definitely the true master of the puppy dog look.

"All right," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

Teddy's face instantly morphed back to usual, and he was grinning widely. "How did I know you'd say that? Now, here's the plan."

He leaned in and whispered his idea to me, and by the time he finished I was grinning just as widely as he was. I had never done anything like this, and the thought of pranking someone made me excited, but I still couldn't help but feel a little nervous too.

"Don't worry, Mike," Teddy reassured me. "I've got it all under control." He winked again, and I took a deep breath and let it out before winking back. _Show time._

"I can't believe you, Mike!" Teddy all but yelled at me, making sure to get the attention of the victims of our prank: the few students still hanging out in the common room. "You stole what was- is- rightfully mine!"

"I did not!" I replied hotly, trying to play along as best as I could. "You just can't handle being second best for once in your life!"

"You know bloody well that's not true," he hissed, pointing his finger accusingly at me. His hair was turning red again, which I thought was a very nice touch. "You stole the Prefect position from me, however you managed to do it, and then you have the audacity to lie about it right to my face!"

"You're just upset because now I'm the favorite student _and _I can move in on your little girlfriend now," I replied calmly, quickly glancing to make sure we had the full attention of the prank victims: we did. Some were staring more obviously than others, but no one could ignore us at this point.

"Take it back!" Teddy shouted so intensely I was actually a little scared, even though I knew he was acting. "Take back what you said, you bloody jerk!" He pulled his wand out and aimed it at me.

"A duel? Seriously, Teddy? If that's what you want!" I took my own wand out of my pocket and pointed it at him. _Now for the most important part._

I heard a few gasps from the students and almost smiled. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Mikey," Teddy taunted. "_Stupefy!_"

I was ready for the red streak that shot out of his wand. I pretended to try to block his spell, but instead I let myself be hit and blasted back on the floor where I had quickly cast a Cushioning Charm.

I unsteadily got back on my feet to see Teddy smirking at me. He winked at me as I pointed my wand back at him.

"My turn," I said. I flicked my wrist and cast a spell, one that was completely unexpected, up at the ceiling.

Teddy pushed me back down to the ground and protected us with a simple shielding spell, however our victims were not so lucky.

We sat up and looked around at the carnage my spell had caused. Instead of shooting an offensive spell at Teddy, I had cast a spell I came across while reading one day that shot a giant blob of paint out of one's wand that then exploded and covered an entire area in a rainbow of permanent paint. Well, it could be removed with the counter-spell but it was _almost _permanent.

The entire common room was completely covered in neon paint, including the students who were in it, and everything was dripping with fresh, wet paint except for a circle of the floor where Teddy had cast a shielding spell around us.

"Oh dear!" I stood up, laughing. "I must've shot the wrong spell. I swear I meant to cast Expelliarmus!"

"Don't worry, Mike," Teddy said, smiling. "I'll clean it up right quick." He turned and pointed his wand at the wall by where our victims were sitting, still dripping paint and not quite comprehending what had happened.

Suddenly a flurry of white feathers shot out of Teddy's wand. He made sure to cover the students in them before stopping the spell and looking surprised.

"Oh Merlin!" Teddy said. "Whoops!"

I barely contained my laughter as we started picking our way to the boys' stairway through the mess of paint on the floor and feathers that were still drifting through the air.

When we were almost at the steps Teddy turned and called out loudly over his shoulder, "I had no idea there were so many _chickens _in Gryffindor!"

* * *

**A/N:** **Well, this chapter was a bit lighter at the end, now that Teddy and Mike have officially pulled the first prank of the school year! Any guesses as to what the object they found in the strange room was? Again, thanks to everyone who's stuck with me (and this story!) this far! I promise things will get a lot more exciting in the next chapters! See y'all next week!**


	9. Mood Swings and Bacon

**[Sam]**

Someone was screaming.

My eyes shot open at the sound, and I had my wand in hand, fully awake in mere seconds, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I crept towards my door, maintaining a relaxed grip on my wand. One of the biggest mistakes witches and wizards of all ages made when casting spells was clenching their wand in their fist. I had quickly discovered after first getting my own wand that putting too much force in my grip was like choking the wand and my magic; instead it was much better to treat it like an extension of my arm. I had never shared my theory with anyone, but it obviously worked- I was top of the class in Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, after all.

Returning my thoughts to the task at hand, I carefully opened my door. My systems were on high alert, and I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the same girl scream again, closer this time.

Walking slowly down the hallway, I discovered who had been screaming, and I instantly put my wand away, laughter about to bubble out of my mouth.

"My, you must've had an interesting night, eh, Lou?" I smirked as I walked into the dorm room in front of me, belonging to Alli, Louise, and two other seventh-years: Hayley Grace and Cleo Montgomery.

Needless to say, the sight that greeted me was scream-worthy, at least in Louise's opinion. Louise was standing in front of her mirror, horrified at her reflection. Her once silky brunette hair was now a mixture of purple, orange, and green, tangled up into thick, dry clumps. Her skin wasn't much better- it looked like she had been attacked by a rainbow. Her clothes, however, were clean- the only part of her that wasn't covered in gaudy paint. And were those _feathers_ in her hair?

"It most certainly was," Louise sniffed haughtily, probably trying to preserve what dignity she had left. "But not in a good way."

She told the tale of how she had stayed in the common room late last night, talking to Evan Watson, her seventh-year boyfriend, when two boys suddenly barged in, laughing like they'd gone crazy. She dismissed them, then all of a sudden they were shouting at each other about being _Prefect_, of all things, and then one of them shot a spell out that covered everyone- and everything- in the common room in paint, except for the two boys. Then the other one said he would clean it up, but instead he shot feathers out of his wand at all of them. Then the boys disappeared off to their dorm rooms, one of them shouting something about chickens.

Louise almost began sobbing again as she looked back in the mirror. "I look absolutely _hideous_ because of them, those nutters." Alli and Hayley murmured soothing words to her while Cleo started picking the last of the feathers out of Louise's multi-colored hair.

"I figured if I took a shower the paint would come off, but it didn't. I washed my hair about ten times, and nothing even happened! I tried to get rid of it with a cleaning spell, but it still stuck, and I just gave up and went to bed. Now it's still there, and I look god-awful! What will Evan think of me if I can't even look presentable on the first day of class?" Louise wailed, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course Louise was having a mental breakdown over her appearance.

"Think, Lou," I said with as little sarcasm as I could. "If Evan was there with you when it happened, wouldn't he be having the same problem right now?"

That seemed to pacify her, at least a little. Louise sighed and then picked up her hairbrush. "If I just put it in a simple updo, I can pull it off." That time I did roll my eyes.

"Now that we've averted that crisis, I'm going back to my room." I turned to leave.

"You really should do something with your hair, Sam," Louise called. I rolled my eyes, but smiled. It was something I had heard only a million times since I cut it after second year.

"Glad you're back, Lou," I muttered before walking back to my room.

I closed the door behind me and changed out of my rumpled clothes mechanically, my thoughts on what Louise had described.

_There are only three guys I know that would pull a stunt like that on before school has even started_, I thought as I tied my Gryffindor tie and then pulled a gray sweater over my head. _James, Teddy, and Fred. But they were gone last night. Who else would ever think of pranking their own House?_

_Maybe they made it here after I went to bed. _I didn't want to give myself false hope, but it was there nonetheless.

Giving my hair one last run through with my fingers, I went to leave when the shiny purple Prefect badge sitting on my desk caught my eye.

Wondering how it got there, I walked over and picked it up, tilting it side to side, watching the light dance over the silver "P" on its surface. This one little badge, a symbol of favoritism and power. One stupid little badge that could cause so much trouble and drama. The Slytherin in me was proud that I had gotten it, that I had matched my brother. The Slytherin in me told me of the power to come if I was Head Girl next year. I would finally have bested my brother, the pride and joy of my father.

A prick of pain in my finger brought me out of the dark thoughts, and I realized I had the badge clenched in my fist, the pin on the back digging into the skin on my pointer finger.

I forced my hand to unclench and pinned the badge on the left side of my robe with a sigh.

I squared my shoulders and began the long trek down to the Great Hall for breakfast with faked confidence, the same thought echoing over and over in my head. Something I hadn't thought about in a long time: the Sorting Hat's words to me during my Sorting.

_You have a strong will and the desire to be great, and though you may not be aware of it yet, I can tell you'd do almost anything to be the best. To make your family proud. You'd do well in Slytherin._

But for some reason, the hat had pronounced me a Gryffindor, to the shock of myself, my brother, and everyone else. A Malfoy in Gryffindor? It was unheard of. What made it even worse was that my stupid brother had made it to Slytherin.

I felt a scowl form on my face, scaring a couple of first-years who happened to walk by me. I didn't bother to apologize, too lost in my own memories.

I wasn't happy to be in Gryffindor, believe it or not, but after receiving a reassuring letter from my mom (she had signed Father's name at the bottom with hers, but I knew he was still disappointed in me) the next day and finding friends in James, Teddy, and Fred, I soon began to feel at home in my new House and embraced the differences that set me apart from my brother. I smiled as I thought of all the pranks that the four of us had pulled over the years, most of which were aimed at Scor and his followers.

In a better mood after remembering the numerous pranks I'd taken part in, I sat down at my normal spot at the Gryffindor table.

I heard teasing laughter and looked up as Louise walked in, her nose in the air even though she was still splattered in paint, Alli walking next to her for support and to smack anyone who went too far with the jokes about Louise.

They came and sat down across from me again, Louise looking like she was barely holding it together. More laughter echoed from the other side of the room, and I figured that a couple other people unfortunate enough to be pranked last night walked in.

"Wonder what that's all about," a voice muttered from beside me and I jumped.

"Marvin, you really need to stop doing that," I replied, trying to calm myself down as he took the seat next to me and began filling his plate with scrambled eggs and sausage.

Marvin shrugged in response since his mouth was full and I tried not to glare at him. What made him think he could sit by me again? Oh, right. I had said we were friends last night. I mentally cursed myself for saying something so idiotic and letting this guy get so close to me, especially since I still thought he was hiding something.

I stabbed a waffle and took my time eating it so I wouldn't be expected to hold a conversation. Looking around at all the students- I noticed about five other Gryffs that shared Louise's unfortunate coloration- I almost didn't believe my eyes when I saw a shock of turquoise hair belonging to a tall student enter the great hall. _It's got to be just another prank victim,_ I told myself, but then I noticed his skin was still a normal color. He turned so I got a better look at his face, and there was no doubt in my mind.

"Teddy!" I shouted, standing up and rushing towards him. In hindsight, running up to him like that probably seemed like some cliche reunion scene out of a Muggle movie, but I didn't care.

He laughed- Merlin, how I loved that laugh!- as I threw my arms around his neck, and he picked me up and spun me around a couple times.

When he set me down again, I turned my head and kissed him on the cheek, without even thinking about it. I froze for a second, thinking I had just made the whole thing extremely awkward.

"My, someone's affectionate today," Teddy teased, and with that, the awkward tension was gone, even though I could still feel a blush heating my face.

"Well, don't expect it to happen again," I smirked, shoving him lightly. "Oh, hey, James."

"What, I don't get a kiss?" James said, turning his face towards me.

"Nope," I replied, and smacked his cheek just hard enough that it would sting a little.

"Geez, woman! It was just a joke!" James said indignantly, to laughter from both Teddy and I. "That really hurt," he added sourly, rubbing his cheek.

"Oh, hush, you big baby," I said, giving him a rare hug, just because I was still so happy and relieved that they were here and not seriously injured. Or worse.

"There's my favorite doppleganger!" I turned to find Fred behind me, smirking, and I hugged him too, earning surprised laughter from him. I really was being more affectionate than usual today.

I stuck my tongue out at him (once again being the dignified lady). Fred always liked to say that I had stolen his "look" when I cut my hair short, and it kind of fit: we were the same height (which I teased him about constantly) and we both had short, messy red hair, although mine was lighter than his, and Fred obviously didn't inherit the trademark Malfoy grey eyes like I had.

Fred and James walked to our table arm in arm like the idiots they were. I rolled my eyes and noticed Rose's twin, Mike, standing a bit awkwardly off to the side of Teddy. I didn't quite know how to greet him, so I just settled on one of those "sup" nods that guys liked to give and he hesitated before smiling back.

It was only after he left that I realized he had been wearing a Prefect's badge.

"The other Prefect is. . . . Mike?" I asked Teddy, my mouth falling open in shock.

"Yep." Teddy replied, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I'd rather not talk about it."

I shrugged, and he followed me back to where I had been sitting, luckily sitting on my left (since Teddy was left-handed and I was right, and we sat together in almost all of our classes, it was a habit) and separating me from Marvin, who looked a bit put out.

Alli muttered a greeting to Teddy, but Louise was too busy putting herself as close to Evan (who apparently had showed up while I was gone, and was equally paint-covered) as she possibly could, practically sitting on his lap. Not that he seemed to mind, of course.

Teddy snickered upon seeing Louise and Evan until Louise threw him a glare and he seemed to recover, although he was still smiling almost proudly.

"Okay, spill it," I whispered forcefully. "And don't play innocent. You know it doesn't work on me!" I added when he started to put on his "perfect little angel child" look.

"Always so demanding," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He reached out for a piece of bacon, but I slapped his hand before he could reach it.

"Story first, food later." I said sternly, ignoring his whining about his hand and his empty stomach.

"Fine," he sighed dramatically. "The prank last night? Me."

"Aha!" I shouted. "I knew it!"

He shushed me. "I don't want to take all the credit for it. I had help, you know."

"James?" He shook his head. "Fred." He shook his head again, a smile playing at his lips, obviously enjoying my confusion. "Lily?" He laughed. "What? I think she could be the pranking type!" I defended.

"You're off your game, Sammy," he replied. Teddy was the only person who could call me that and not be punched or kicked or injured in any way. "Mike helped me."

"Mike? What the. . . ." I was confused. Mike wasn't the pranking type. He was more of the teacher's pet, always obey the rules kind of kid. Someone who was easily overlooked, which is why I was so shocked that he best Teddy for the Prefect's position.

"Let's just call it his initiation," Teddy smiled, obviously proud he had gotten the new Prefect to play along successfully.

"That explains the permanent paint. I knew you couldn't pull off a spell that complex," I teased, dodging the playful punch he threw at my arm.

"Ah, ah! We can't reward violence, now can we?" I wagged a finger at him. With my other hand I dangled a piece of bacon in his face, laughing and pulling it back when he tried to bite it.

I took a bite of it just to make him mad, and then tossed it to him, but I missed and it landed right in Marvin's drink with a satisfying _sploosh. _Stupid Keeper reflexes. I was great at deflecting flying objects but not so great at aiming and accurately throwing objects like bacon. Or just any object in general.

"I'm so sorry, Marvin!" I said with my hands over my mouth, eyes wide. Teddy was barely holding back his laughter. I reached over him to fish the strip of bacon out of Marvin's cup, but Teddy bumped my arm, causing me to knock the cup off the table and right into Marvin's lap.

"I am so_, so _sorry!" I said, getting up and pulling out my wand to fix the damage.

"Don't bother," Marvin snapped, his blue eyes cold as ice, a seriously frightening ferocity taking over his face. And with that, he stormed angrily out of the Great Hall.

"Sheesh, what was that guy's problem?" Teddy asked me as I sat back down.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. I proceeded to tell Teddy about Marvin's Sorting yesterday, the bad feeling I got from him, how he had seemed so charming but had lied about where he was from, and even about the exchange we had had on the way back to the common room and what happened once we got there.

"Wow," Teddy said thoughtfully, munching on a new piece of bacon. "I guess I missed a lot, huh?"

I elbowed him in the ribs. "That was _not _the point of the story, you tosser!"

Professor Longbottom chose that moment to walk over and hand us our schedules. "School has barely even started and you're already being violent and insulting fellow students, miss Malfoy?" He smiled kindly to take the edge off of his words, but I flushed nonetheless.

"Nah, I've got Sammy here in check," Teddy said, pretending to crack a whip at me with sound effects and everything.

I opened my mouth in outrage (how dare he insinuate something like that?!) but Nev- er, Professor Longbottom beat me to it. "Mister Lupin, I will not have you behaving like a sexist pig at this table! We both know that they all belong in a certain House," he lowered his voice and nodded at the Slytherin table. Teddy and I both busted up laughing, Professor Longbottom holding himself together better than we were. He gave us a wink before handing us our schedules and walking down the table to the next students.

When we both had collected ourselves, I looked over at Teddy, our eyes meeting, and I almost started laughing again, but I distracted myself by glancing over my schedule for the school year.

I definitely had my work cut out for me this year. After getting high grades on my OWLs last year, I was taking some pretty advanced classes. Monday I had Potions with (oh joy) the Slytherins in the morning, and Charms with the Hufflepuffs. Tuesday was Herbology and Muggle Studies (I quite enjoyed that class), both with Ravenclaw, while the afternoon I had free. Wednesday I had Defense with Slytherin in the morning and Arithmancy with Ravenclaw in the afternoon. Thursday morning was (thankfully) free, and then I had Transfiguration with Slytherin, yet again. Friday entailed Care of Magical Creatures with Hufflepuff and Apparition (which I was very excited for) with Ravenclaw.

Teddy groaned. "We have _four_ classes with the snakes this year."

"Blargh." I replied, making Teddy chuckle.

"OI!" James' face suddenly appeared between Teddy and I, making me jump for the third time today.

"James Sirius Potter, if you ever sneak up on me like that again, I swear I will hex you into next year!" I stuck my wand in his face for emphasis, using my death glare to show how serious I was.

"What's this about hexing James?" Fred asked from my other side.

I jumped yet again and spun around to face him, karate-chopping him in the neck before he had a chance to react.

Fred coughed and started choking, to which I rolled my eyes and informed him of his bad acting and utter incompetence.

I felt strong hands grab my wrists and hold them behind my back.

"Teddy!" I screeched. "Let me go, you prat!" I squirmed and kicked, trying to escape his iron grip, but he held me tight like I wasn't even a challenge. Even after I put up with all the stupid (and lengthy, I might add!) strengthening exercises the team had done before each Quidditch practice the past few years, I still wasn't strong enough to beat Teddy. Yet. I was set on being stronger than him this year; it was only fair since he was taller than me.

Then I remembered I was a witch, and my wand was currently in my back pocket. I pretended to give up, letting my arms go limp, and then I reached for my wand as discreetly as possible- yes! My fingers wrapped around the handle, and I twisted my wrist away from me, effectively aiming a spell at Teddy's stomach, which blasted him down the bench a ways. He hit some blond boy (he looked like he could be a fourth- or fifth-year) who bristled, and Teddy got back to his feet, running a hand through his hair cooly, hoping to regain his composure before anyone else noticed.

He glared at me, but I looked up at him with what I hoped was an innocent look (James told me later that I looked like a fox that had been caught in a chicken coop, whatever that meant, and I gave him a smack to the gut for good measure) while James laughed and Fred said, "She got you good, mate," clapping him on the shoulder.

"Geez, you're a bit unpredictable today, Sam," Teddy said once he sat back down beside me. "First you tackle me, then you go around hugging everyone, then you're all happy, and now you're back to your normal violent self." I punched his shoulder for that last one.

"Teddy's right, you have been moody today. Is it, you know, that time of the month?" He lowered his voice and cocked an eyebrow. My face reddened, in both anger and embarrassment. In all honesty, I actually hadn't started my period, but I wasn't about to inform my three best friends (I didn't really have any close friends who were girls, to the disappointment of my mum) of that.

"Watch it, James," Teddy growled, seeing my discomfort with the subject.

"Down, boy!" I teased him, ruffling his (amazingly soft) turquoise hair, to the amusement of James and Fred.

Visibly calmer now, Teddy casually slung an arm across my shoulders. I stiffened but relaxed after a moment, leaning into his chest. I let him get away with such a public display of touchiness just because I was still so thankful that he- and his abnormally large family- had returned safely.

Fred shot a questioning look at me about Teddy's arm (usually by now I would've slipped away and elbowed him in the ribs or something) but I ignored it, grabbing my schedule and standing to leave, Teddy following. He still had his (admittedly very muscular) arm around me, and I flashed him a look meant to scare him off, but he just chuckled and pulled me closer. Git.

I knew the rumors were starting to spread like wildfire about Teddy and I as we walked out of the Great Hall and back to Gryffindor Tower to grab our things before class.

When we were out of earshot I smacked his chest and hissed, "Teddy, you prat! What were you thinking?" I ducked under his arm and put some space between us, even though I missed his comforting warmth immediately afterwards.

"I was _thinking _that you shouldn't keep secrets from everyone," he responded with a tone that said "uh, duh!"

"Secrets? What are you tal-" Teddy cut me off with a finger to my lips. I glared at him but didn't move.

"Ah, ah! Our undying love cannot be revealed yet, my darling- _gah!"_ Teddy yelped in pain as I bit his finger. What? The whole "darling" thing was a bit much for me.

"You're a feisty one, but that's why I love you!" Teddy all but shouted the last part, then kissed my cheek and quickly moved out of range before I could retaliate.

"Teddy Remus Lupin, don't you _dare _walk away from me!" I shouted at his back, stalking towards him angrily as he ran off towards the Tower, the coward.

"Love you! Miss you always!" He yelled back before I lost sight of him. I rolled my eyes with an exasperated sigh. It seemed Teddy's "romantic" antics had returned.

The boy just never learned.

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**A/N: Wow, it's been a week already?! No matter, the Potter/Weasley Clan has returned, much to Sam's pleasure. This chapter was a bit lighter than some of the past chapters, and very fun to write all the different personalities and reactions! As always, thanks to all you readers out there who have stuck with me this far, and I'll be back next week! :)**


	10. Creepy Notes and Love Potion

**[Mike]**

"I hope you all had a satisfactory break, but this is a N.E.W.T. level class, so we will just dive right in. Today: Amortentia." Potions Professor Brenan Wells announced from the front of the room- well, dungeon. Yes, Potions classes were still held in the cold, foreboding, uncomfortable basement of Hogwarts.

His proclamation was met with mixed responses: most of the guys groaned, while three out of the four girls (not many girls wanted to continue Potions farther than was required) squealed in excitement. I'll give you one guess who the last girl was (hint: her name rhymes with "Ram Halfoy"). It was no surprise that she was bored by the concept of a love potion; she had never struck me as a very emotional person.

"So, if everyone would open their books to page 125, we can get started." Professor Wells waited for all of us to reach the assigned page, then continued. "Ah, Mister Lupin. You seem not at all distracted by the redhead to your right and completely willing to read the history of the Amortentia potion, yes?" Teddy's head whipped up at the sound of his name (he had been talking with Sam about something, their heads bent together), and a few of the students (mainly the ones in green and silver) snickered, including Sam's arrogant brother, Scorpius.

Professor Wells had a habit of saying sentences as questions to make you think you had a choice in the matter, when in reality, he was issuing a command. Teddy knew this, of course (everyone did), and he reluctantly began reading.

"The Amortentia potion, often known as simply, "the love potion", is one of the oldest potions still in use today. Its origins trace back to the most primitive of times. . . ." Teddy droned on, reciting from the book in a monotone voice that made me want to laugh. Teddy was usually such an animated person, but he could keep a straight face when he wanted to.

I could see Sam picked up on it too, and I heard her chuckle softly. It sent a pang of jealousy through me; her laughing at Teddy. She was already sitting next to him (they had walked in together laughing about some private joke) while I was stuck sitting at the desk to the left of them by myself. I sighed and forced myself to look away, instead looking towards the door, already wanting to escape this class.

A flicker of movement along the wall caught my eye. I sat up a little straighter but tried to not look as if I was doing so.

The lighting was awful in the dungeons, so all I could make out was a dark shape slinking towards- towards me! Oh, Merlin! I became nervous at the thought of what hideous, deadly monsters there were hiding down here. _Some Gryffindor I am,_ I thought dryly.

". . . . The Amortentia potion is, unfortunately, one of the easiest potions to make. This caused a large amount of trouble in-"

"Sorry to interrupt, Mister Lupin," Wells cut Teddy off abruptly, "but I think we have a late arrival in our midst. Mister Potter, you can stop slinking around back there now, hm?"

Wait- _Potter? What?_ I was completely shocked to see the shadowy form I was so scared of moments before stop and cringe, then stand up and continue walking towards me, a light hitting it to reveal my cousin, James Sirius Potter.

"Of course, Professor," James said smoothly, pulling the chair out next to me and leaning back in it, resting his feet on the desk and crossing his arms behind his head like nothing had happened. "I was simply trying something new. We all need a little variety in our lives, yes?" He said the last in a very accurate imitation of Professor Wells' dry tone, causing stifled laughter from almost all the students in the class (except for Golden Boy Malfoy and his cronies), while the Professor's face turned red, his dark eyebrows drawn down.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mister Potter," Wells shot back. "Ten more if you don't take your feet off my desk." James yelped in protest, but took his feet off the desk, not wanting to cost us any more points. Now _that_, Malfoy and his followers found absolutely hilarious.

Professor Wells turned back to Teddy and had him continue reading like nothing had even happened. While Teddy read on, I subtly whispered to James, "James, what are you _doing_ here?"

"Taking Potions class," he whispered back. I rolled my eyes.

"I _meant_, what are you doing taking NEWT level potions? You told me you got all D's and T's on your OWLs last year."

"Yeah, well, I lied." James said bluntly, seemingly caring more about making his hair look perfectly tousled than the fact that he lied to his family. I couldn't help but feel a little hurt at that.

"Why would you lie about your scores, if you obviously did well on them?"

"Because," he said with a sigh, "I have to keep my image up." I looked at him, confused, and he explained, "Everyone has an image of themselves they put off to others. Yours is a smart, goody-two-shoes kinda thing," I bristled at his tone, and he added, "no offense. But mine is a cool, extremely handsome, uncaring bad boy, which means if people thought I was smart, it would ruin me." I resisted the urge to yell at him how stupid that was. What was wrong with being smart? He shouldn't have to change himself to what other people thought he should be!

"Thank you, Mister Lupin," Professor Wells' voice cut through my thoughts. "Now, I have a batch of Amortentia already complete at the front, if all of you would join me?" Wells walked over with long strides to stand behind his desk. The only thing sitting on it was a large black cauldron with what I assumed was Amortentia bubbling inside.

All the students, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, got out of their seats and jostled for a good position at the front. I started to walk towards where Sam was standing, but after being pushed around, I ended up next to her brother. Perfect, just perfect.

"Now this is an example of a perfectly brewed batch of Amortentia," the Professor said proudly. "I will let each of you come and smell it because, as we know, each person smells something unique that represents love to them. Let's start with Mister Malfoy, and then everyone else form a line behind him, yes?"

I went to stand behind Scorpius since I was right next to him, but I was pushed back by his two ugly cronies, who muttered some choice words about Gryffindors and my family that I couldn't help but overhear. Rage welled up inside me, and I clenched my fists but didn't say anything. I didn't want to sink to their level, and I didn't want to get any more points taken away from Gryffindor.

I realized with a start that I was the next person in line to approach the potion, and I unclenched my fists and walked forward.

I leaned over to look in at the potion; it was beautiful, really. It was a pale pink color and a pearly sheen, with small tendrils of white vapor wafting up from it. I took a deep breath in through my nose and swayed a bit when its scent reached me.

I smelled parchment and old books. . . . Those vanilla candles mum always put around our house. . . . The scent outside after a spring rain. . . . and. . . . something else I couldn't identify, something kind of sharp and a little fruity, but not overpoweringly so.

I refused the urge to take another wiff of the potion, forcing myself to walk back to my seat. I sat down heavily, the potion still clouding my senses and thoughts. I was wracking my brain to place the last scent when I heard Professor Wells speak again.

"So, who would like to share. . . . Ah, Miss Malfoy, how about you?" I shook off the remnants of the potion so I could clearly hear Sam's response.

"I smelled the leather of my Quidditch uniform and the quaffle, the smoky scent of fireworks, my mum's perfume, and vanilla," Sam replied with a small smile on her face, looking like she was still in a daze, her beautiful silver eyes unfocused.

"Excellent," Wells said to her. "Next, Mister Alexander?" He looked over at a Slytherin boy, who described what he had smelled in the same fashion as Sam; dazed and slightly smiling.

Professor Wells called on a few more students, who each told what they had smelled in the Amortentia. He then finished the class by saying, "I hope you all learned something today, because I expect a full roll of parchment from each of you on my desk tomorrow about the properties of Amortentia, and your thoughts on the moral side of it: whether or not the wizarding world should continue producing, distributing, and using this potion, and why you feel that way." A few students groaned at the long assignment, but Wells fixed them with his "no nonsense" stare, and they quieted.

"And it will not be late, yes?" He added, looking straight at James, who grinned and saluted- _saluted!_- Professor Wells. I smacked a hand to my forehead.

Professor Wells' face darkened again but before he could say anything (most likely to take more points away from Gryffindor) the class period ended, all the students walking out of the dungeon and to their next class at varying rates.

By that I mean most students all but running out of the dungeons and the rest walking briskly out. Instead I lingered behind and took my time putting my book away because I wanted to get the chance to talk to Sam, preferably without Teddy by her side.

After thinking the situation over I decided I would just go to her, whether Teddy was there or not, so I picked up my things and walked over to Sam, who was unsuccessfully trying to shove her Potions book into her over-crowded bag.

"Need a little help there?" I asked her with what I hoped was a friendly smile. Her head whipped up and she jumped a little at the sound of my voice.

"Why does this keep happening to me?!" She shouted angrily at the sky while Teddy laughed. Yes, Teddy was still sitting next to her. "It's nothing, really," she told me in a much calmer voice. I probably looked really freaked out if she felt the need to explain. "People keep sneaking up on me and surprising me; that was the fourth time today." She shouldered her bag and stood up, but almost everything in her bag fell back out as soon as she did so.

I bent down to help pick her things up, James (I hadn't realized he was still here) suddenly coming over and helping Sam and I pick everything up; I had forgotten that they were really close friends.

In no time at all we had picked up almost everything. I grabbed a small slip of older-looking paper, wondering why Sam would keep an old scrap of parchment with her.

I subtly unfolded it and looked for writing on the inside. What? It wasn't _snooping_, necessarily. I was just. . . . making sure she wasn't getting creepy notes from anyone. Yep, that was it.

So I opened it up and saw a note written in what looked like my handwriting. How was that even possible? As much as I wished I could write notes back-and-forth with Sam on a daily basis, I had never done so. So how did something that obviously wasn't from me but had my handwriting end up in her bag?

I quickly glanced up to see if anyone had noticed me grab the note- nope. Teddy had joined James and Sam, who were now sitting on the floor having a casual conversation. I was just surprised Professor Wells hadn't kicked us out yet, but another glance around the room showed that he had disappeared. Where he would've gone, I had not a clue.

Mentally shrugging, I turned back to the note in my hands, ignoring the fact that it was my handwriting, and read it:

_Samantha,_

_I had so hoped that we could be friends and that I could spare you. Unfortunately, it seems as if I was mistaken. You give me no choice but to involve you in this. Tell no one of this note, or else face severe consequences._

_-The Sphinx_

"What are you doing, Mike?" Sam demanded angrily, easily ripping the note out of my hands, as I was still dumbstruck upon reading it. "You can't just snoop through my stuff like that! I can't believe you! What kind of person does that?" She shoved the note into her pocket and crossed her arms, shooting daggers at me with her glare.

"Sam," I finally said after it was clear she wanted an answer, trying not to let my concern show in my voice, "what was that? When did you get it? Who is it from? Have you told Shay? Why-"

"What are you freaking out about, Mike?" James interrupted my stream of questions.

"We better make ourselves scarce," I ignored James and stood up. I figured that Professor Wells would not be happy to find four students still in his classroom. "Come on, before Wells gets back," I added when no one else stood up with me.

The thought of angry Wells put them into action, Teddy helping Sam (who now looked a bit pale) to her feet.

Once we were out of the classroom, Sam said, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you guys anything. I just can't. I need to go." She tried to walk away from us but Teddy caught her arm.

"Samantha Hylla Malfoy, don't you walk away from me!" Teddy told her, smirking at some private joke. She stared at him, her expression unreadable. After a tense second she fell back into line with us. I was still shocked to find out Sam's middle name was Hylla and that Teddy knew it. Sam had always been touchy about her middle name and now I knew why.

Sam sighed. "I can trust you boys, right?" She looked at James, Teddy, and I in turn and we all nodded, although she hesitated a bit longer when she turned to me. I understood that she didn't know me as well, but it still hurt that she thought she couldn't trust me. "Okay." She took a deep breath before spitting out, "IfoundthiscreepynoteinmyroombutIdon'tknowwhoit'sfromorhowitgotthere."

"Come again?" James asked with a confused smile, scratching the side of his head.

"Today when I went to my room to get my things, I found a note sitting on my bed." Sam fished the note out of her pocket and held it up. "I don't know how it could've gotten there because it looks like a guy's handwriting, but I definitely did _not _invite any guys into my room." She shot an angry glare at Teddy and James, who were snickering about her last statement, and they quieted, Teddy trying to pass his laughter off as coughing. Meanwhile, I was left furiously blushing and unable to meet Sam's eyes. What? I'm a sixteen-year-old boy with raging hormones and all that. Cut me some slack!

"Well, read us the note!" James said. Sam did, although her voice wavered slightly, which was probably the only time I had heard Sam Malfoy sound uncertain and unconfident about something in the six years that I had known- well, known _of_- her.

"But it said not to tell anyone," Teddy said once she had finished. "It said you'd face 'severe consequences' or something like that if you did."

"I know, but as much as I hate to admit it, I'm going to need help figuring out what it all means and who this. . . . _Sphinx_ character is," Sam replied.

"Yes!" James shouted and pumped his fist in the air. "We get to be secret agents- _ow!_" Sam smacked his arm.

"Keep your voice down, idiot!" She told a pouty James, who was rubbing his arm where she hit him. Teddy chuckled, muttering something about Sam's abusive tendencies. "Besides, if you really were a secret agent, you would've just blown your cover and we'd probably have to kill you and everyone who heard you." Sam added with a blank face. James was struck speechless, looking as if his mind had been blown, while Teddy and I chuckled.

"There's our little firecracker," Teddy told her, flicking a finger over the end of her nose. She scowled and swatted him off, but then stuck her tongue out at him, apparently back in better spirits.

"Don't worry, Sam," I tried to reassure her. "I bet it's just somebody trying to prank you and freak you out. It can't be any worse than what our parents had to face, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sam said as we sat down together at the Gryffindor table for lunch. "I mean, it's not like he's the spawn of Voldemort or something!" She smiled and laughed, and I smiled, but my heart wasn't in it. I wouldn't count anything out just yet, no matter how unlikely it seemed. Crazy things just seemed to happen at Hogwarts.

If I were a cat, my ears would've pricked up as the sound of wings flapping signaled the first round of owl mail coming in. Owls of all different colors, breeds, and sizes flew around the Great Hall and dropped letters or packages off to their recipients. It was what some would call 'organized chaos'.

The four of us looked up as one when a plain, average size, unremarkable tawny owl swooped over to Sam and dropped a piece of parchment into her lap.

We shared a nervous look, for the parchment looked exactly like what Sam's note from earlier had been written on.

Sam picked it up and opened it with shaky hands. All four of us held our breath as Sam's eyes quickly skimmed the page.

She suddenly turned pale as a sheet and dropped the note, frozen in fear. Her eyes were focused somewhere above my head, her mouth open in a small "o".

James hesitantly reached over and picked up the note so that he, Teddy, and I could read it.

_Samantha,_

_I thought we had agreed not to tell anyone? Pity you didn't listen. . . . Oh, well. This just makes everything even more fun! For me, that is. I couldn't imagine it would be very pleasant seeing all your friends and family die before your very eyes._

_-The Sphinx_

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**A/N: Duh... duh... DUH! Sam's been threatened by the mysterious Sphinx... any guesses as to who it could be? ****I was uber pleased with how this chapter turned out and I can't wait to get the next ones out to you guys! But I will restrain myself and just keep writing! In the meantime, I'd really love to hear any opinions you guys have on _Two of a Kind, _and, as always, thanks for stopping by! Have a superb week, dear readers! :)  
**


	11. I Get a Bad Case of the Feels

**Quick A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I went AWOL last week, but I couldn't really update from church camp! So anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

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**[Sam]**

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. I felt as if I was in a daze, and not even my best mates cracking jokes or Quidditch tryouts (luckily the only other person who had tried for Keeper was some cocky fourth-year who had probably been dared to try out, meaning he wasn't all that great and I got my rightful Keeper position back) could bring me back out of it. When I wasn't in class or at meals or flying, I spent most of my time in the library, puzzling over the strange notes I had received from someone who called himself the Sphinx. I had searched and found all different kinds of books that could give me any sort of direction on my mad hunt to find him. Luckily enough, I had not heard from him since he threatened to kill my friends and family for some unknown reason. I wasn't sure how serious the threat was, but I didn't want to risk it.

This was why late Friday evening found me still flipping through old books- very thick ones, I might add- by myself, as all the other students who had been in the library filtered out to go who knew where in the castle.

I stifled a yawn behind my hand and then returned to my reading: a compilation of a bunch of different wizards' encounters with Sphinxes. I wasn't entirely sure that the book was true, but it was one of the more entertaining books I had read in the past week, as the Sphinx would sometimes bite the head off of her victim if they answered the riddle wrong. Hey, a little violence never killed anyone! Oh wait. . . . .

I chuckled at my clever pun. "Ten points to Sam."

"Talking to yourself, eh, Sam? You must be crazier than I thought," a smooth voice startled me and I jumped up to find one of the people I least wanted to see right now.

"Scor."

"At your service, my darling sister," Scor gave me a mocking bow and a wry grin.

"Okay, first off, why are you being so nice? Second, what are you doing here? And third, why are you being so nice?" I crossed my arms and gave him a suspicious glare.

"Oh, Sam," Scor laughed and threw his arm around my shoulders. I involuntarily tensed up and moved away, but then he put his other arm around me, trapping me in an awkward and uncomfortable hug. I patted him on the back somewhat forcefully, but he didn't seem to notice- or care.

"I wish you were more of a hugger, Sam," Scor said into my hair. Suspicion flared through me; something was definitely up. No way Scor would be this affectionate without a catch.

After a few awkward seconds of silence, he finally let go of me, but not before my nose was assaulted with a sharp, pungent scent that was unmistakable. My eyes widened in surprise, but then I smirked; my brother's behavior made perfect sense now.

"Well, I'd better be going," Scor announced with a smile.

"Oh, no you're not!" I grabbed his wrist and easily held him back.

"The ladies just can't enough of me," Scor said with a cocky smirk.

"Scor." He was currently fascinated with the buttons on his shirt, which happened to be buttoned up off-kilter, so much so that a large part of his pale, toned- _ick, _I hated to think of brother that way, but playing Quidditch had done him some good- stomach. I resisted the sudden childish urge to tickle him, something I would never have even thought of doing if Scor were sober. Instead, I rolled my eyes and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me.

"We have the same eyes," he stated, his steel-grey eyes unfocused. He even giggled. Scorpius Malfoy _giggled._

"You're drunk, Scor." I told him bluntly. "The first week of school and you're already inebriated."

"Inerb- inegrigated? Funny word," he smiled and swayed slightly.

"Here, I'll walk you back and make sure you don't kill yourself on the way." I reached down for my bag and slung it over my shoulder, then put an arm around his waist and led him out of the library.

We walked through the eerily silent hallways even though I still had no idea where I was taking him, and to make matters worse, he began singing at the top of his lungs. It's not that he had a bad voice- he actually was a decent singer, even though he almost never sang- but he was completely drunk and was singing some strange opera-type song, which was making most of the portraits on the walls complain noisily as well.

I casually brought out my wand and stuck it in his face, reminding him that I would be all too eager to hex him. He seemed to get the message and stopped singing, and I slipped my wand back into my pocket, satisfied that I could still threaten him.

He then began absentmindedly twirling his fingers through my short hair, humming softly all the while. It was a bit awkward, to say the least, but I let it slide because he was being considerably quieter.

I started when I suddenly heard the echo of footsteps, the sound becoming louder and louder as the person headed towards Scor and I. I wasn't sure if they were aware we were there, but I muttered some choice words under my breath and I scanned the hallway for a place to hide, just in case. In hindsight, both Scor and I were Prefects so there was no real need to hide, but you know how it goes; hindsight is 20/20.

Not deeming anywhere in the hallway as a decent hiding place, I ended up dragging Scor with me as I pressed my back against the wall of a pillar, holding my arm over his chest to keep him in place. It would be my rotten luck that Scor would ruin my hiding spot, so I was hoping and praying with all my might that the person wouldn't notice us.

The footsteps stopped frighteningly close to where Scor and I were hiding. "Who goes there? I'll have you know that I'm a Prefect, and it's after-hours." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding when I recognized the voice.

"Just me, Mike," I announced. "And my idiot brother." I pulled Scor along and stepped into the light so the lanky ginger could see us.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Mike said, seeming relieved that he no longer had to confront anyone. "I was worried when it was time for our rounds and you didn't show."

Something in his gaze and his tone made me flush. "Sorry about that. I got a little held up in the library." I gestured towards Scor.

Mike just looked at me for a few seconds, his light brown eyes sharp with an emotion I couldn't identify. I blushed again and finally made myself break the eye contact, looking instead at my shoes. When I looked back up, Mike blushed and glanced away.

"Love is in the air," Scor sung softly and I winced, while Mike looked flustered and his ears turned pink.

"Scor's completely drunk," I clarified to Mike, hoping he accepted my lame excuse for Scor's words and presence. Mike merely nodded, looking thoughtful.

"We should probably take him back to his common room," Mike found his voice again.

"Well, the thing is, I don't exactly know where it is." It was embarrassing to admit, considering my desire to be in Slytherin when I was younger, but it was the truth. Bloody secretive snakes.

"Oh, no problem. Al's in Slytherin, you know, and he showed me their common room once, though I wasn't supposed to tell anyone." Mike smiled kindly, and I couldn't help but smile back. Afraid that he would look at me as intensely as he had moments before, I indicated that he should lead the way and instead concentrating on holding Scor upright, which was becoming increasingly difficult as he became more distracted and less willing to walk.

Out of nowhere, my foot got tangled with Scor's when I took my next step, and I crashed to the floor. I managed to drag Scor down with me, which was probably quite the spectacle.

"Geroff me, you drunken idiot!" I shouted at Scor, who was sprawled across my stomach and legs. "SCORPIUS MALFOY, GET YOUR FAT ARSE OFF OF ME RIGHT THIS SECOND," I hissed, and I accompanied each word with a punch to his shoulder, not bothering to hold anything back. The boy deserved the bruise he'd probably have the next morning, what with getting drunk and wandering around the castle late at night.

Scor groaned and muttered something to himself, but he stirred and I shoved him off of me. I pushed myself to my feet and busied myself with the unnecessary task of checking my wand's placement and adjusting my Prefect badge.

I hoped that Mike hadn't witnessed that embarrassing moment, and that he wouldn't tease me about it, but when I glanced at him, I saw that he was helping Scor to his feet with a faintly amused smile. He took my place with helping my brother stay upright, and when he looked at me, all I saw in his face was a sort of modest kindness and maybe even sympathy.

Instead of placating me, his expression only made my temper begin to flare up. He hadn't laughed at me once, not even smirked or anything. I knew for a fact that if Teddy, James, or Fred had been here with me, they would've been wiping tears from their eyes and gasping for air on the floor because they were laughing so hard. And then they would've never let the incident go, and teased me about it mercilessly for who knew how long. But instead, Mike had helped Scor and not said a word about it. He had even had the nerve to feel sorry for me.

I fumed in silence as we walked down to the Slytherin common room, not even bothering to help Mike hold Scor. Who did he think he was, pitying me? If there was one thing I hated, it was people who pitied me. _Oh, poor little Sam, having to be in Gryffindor all by herself, _they'd say._ Poor Sam, she's never been in a relationship. Poor Sam, having Scorpius for a brother. Poor Sam, her father was a Death Eater._

"Okay, we're all good now- Sam? What's wrong?" Mike suddenly appeared in front of the door

to the Slytherin common room, without Scor, to find me clenching my fists and staring angrily at the wall in front of me.

"Come on, something's up," Mike said when I didn't reply.

"No, everything's just perfect," I spat. "Rainbows and gum drops and all that." I stormed off, and was disappointed to hear Mike's footsteps following behind me.

"Sam, just stop! You don't have to be the tough one all the time." Mike's words made me freeze, but didn't have the effect he intended on me.

"Yes, I do," I spun around to face him. "If you knew what I've had to go through, you'd know that being tough is the only thing that kept me from breaking down. And you know what the problem is here? You." He looked shocked and hurt, but I didn't give him the chance to say anything.

"You just can't keep to yourself," I sneered (Scor's favorite expression), drawing closer and closer to him with every word until I was only mere inches away from him. "You're just how my father described your mother. Nosy and condescending." I backed up to see how he took that. Apparently not very well, for he looked genuinely angry, and opened his mouth to reply.

"I'm not done," I cut him off. "Not only are you nosy, but you had the audacity to feel sorry for me. If there's one thing that I cannot stand, it's pity. I don't need your pity, yours or any other ignorant loser's. I don't care that you feel sorry for me, and I don't care if I've offended you. Goodnight." I added angrily, and stormed off again.

"And here I thought you were different from your brother. I guess I thought wrong." I flinched. I didn't know if Mike had meant for me to hear that or not, but his words still stung.

I had no idea where I was walking to, but I knew I had to get as far away from Mike as possible. I was surprised to feel my eyes well up with tears, and I blinked them away before they could fall. I _refused _to cry.

"Oof! Watch where you're going!" I snapped after running into someone's chest and being knocked on my arse.

"My apologies." A hand was thrust down towards me. I just stared at it for a moment, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, before I hesitantly grabbed the hand and was hoisted to my feet.. I would've dropped their hand right then, but it actually felt kind of nice- _NO. _I would not become a typical wimpy, emotional girl. I squashed those feelings before they could begin, and good thing I did, for when I met the roadblock person's striking blue eyes, I was filled with revulsion and dropped my hand like I'd been burned.

"Marvin? What are _you_ doing here?" So maybe I was being a bit harsh, but it wasn't _my _fault that he put me on edge.

"Well, I _do _go to school here. . . ." Marvin trailed off and raised an eyebrow. I flushed, feeling very much like a scolded child. "No, it's cool." He added, breaking the seriousness with a laugh that made me smile.

I made polite conversation with him as we walked side-by-side in the opposite direction Marvin had appeared from, which happened to be towards Gryffindor Tower.

He stopped in front of the entrance to the common room and I automatically stopped and faced him.

"So, why _were _you wandering around this late at night?" That question had been nagging at me the entire time. I had been trying to figure out where he would've been heading, but the only place that was worth noting along that path would be the library. And the owlery. _Hmmm._

"Oh, you know, just giving myself a tour!" He joked. _Avoiding the question, _I thought, instantly suspicious. "I'm just glad I didn't get in trouble, Miss Prefect."

"Ha, as if I would ever purposely get anyone other than a Slytherin in trouble," I scoffed. "I'm more of the pranking type anyways."

"That does seem more your style," Marvin laughed. "So why did I hear what sounded like you ranting to some poor, innocent soul before you so rudely ran into me?"

"Hey now," I said, and swatted his arm. _Why did I do that? Remember that you don't trust him, Sam. _He laughed again and smiled, one of the most brilliant smiles I had ever seen. It wasn't fair for him to pull that on me.

After a second of reorganizing my jumbled thoughts, I added, "It was just Mike- you know Mike Weasley, Rose's twin?- and we got into an argument. . . . Well, it was really less of an argument and more like me yelling at him. I just jumped to conclusions again and let all my anger out on him and now I've probably pushed him away forever. . . . I've gotten really good at that over the years, you know, pushing people away. Just one of my many talents. . . . and now I'm crying, why am I crying? I don't cry. I'm better than that." And then he suddenly pulled me into his chest and wrapped his strong arms around me and let me cry into his shoulder.

I hadn't remembered what it felt like to cry. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had let myself cry, but now that the tears had started, I found I couldn't stop them, and I let all of my pent-up, bottled, squashed emotions come to the surface.

I don't know how long we stood like that, me sobbing into his shoulder and mumbling incoherently like people always seem to do when they cry and him rubbing my back comfortingly, but when I got control of myself again, I immediately backed away from him. What can I say, old habits die hard.

Marvin looked a little hurt, but then something that seemed to be respect, or pride, flashed across his face. "I understand why you don't want to feel anything, Sam, but at some point all those feelings come rushing out, sometimes when you don't mean them to." What was he trying to say? That it wasn't my fault for blowing up on Mike? Because it definitely was. And why was he trying to comfort me and act like we were best buds?

He took a deep breath and looked around, his eyes flitting everywhere except towards me, which was the first time I had ever seen him appear flustered. It was strange to me how Marvin had all these different personalities that didn't mesh and how he could switch them like the flip of one of those Muggle light switches. "I guess what I'm trying to say is it's okay to let yourself feel, Sam. But at the same time, don't lose yourself. Because I like the Sam that I've come to know-" I wanted to roll my eyes at that; he didn't know me _that _well- "the one who isn't like the other girls and can fend for herself and is intelligent and original and needs more than a funny line to win her over." His lips turned up into a smirk and I flushed and cracked a small smile as we both thought back to when Marvin had just been Sorted and some of my first words to him, to which he had replied, _Challenge accepted._

I was still trying to think of a witty remark when I felt his fingers under my chin, tilting my face up towards his and I couldn't think I couldn't speak I couldn't pull away from what I knew would happen next. He leaned over and did something completely foreign to me: he kissed me. On the lips.

My hand instantly rose at my side, ready to slap him across the face, but then he straightened and it was over almost as soon as it had begun. My brain and my body weren't sure what to think or do and I was unable to react in any way except stand there and stare at him.

He flashed that brilliant, charming smile one more time and then he was gone, through the portrait hole and into the common room and away from me.

I stood there for some time, simply trying to untangle the knotted mess that was my feelings. I was angry with him, of course. Partly because that was my first kiss and it had come from I guy I barely even knew and still wasn't sure that I completely trusted, and partly because he had kissed me out of the blue and caught me off guard and somehow managed to see right through me. Who did he think he was, to just plant one on me like that? This wasn't a Muggle movie or a novel where the characters do unrealistic things like swoop in out of nowhere and swoon into each others' arms and let everything go in bouts of passion or whatever. I was also angry with myself, though, for letting him in so easily and letting him get the upper hand on me. I had always needed to be in control of everything, and by comforting me and doing something completely unexpected, Marvin had seized control and I hadn't even put up a struggle.

But I found that, more than anything, I got the strange feeling that he was a magnet, and I was just a stray piece of silverware or a forgotten bobby pin lying on the ground and I couldn't resist the pull he had on me. I hesitantly reached up and lightly touched my lips for what must've been the tenth time since _Marvin_, of all people, had kissed me. Every girl out there, however boyish she may seem, has fantasized about their first kiss before, and I can absolutely, _positively_ say I had never imagined it would happen like that. However, it was more of a gentle brush of the lips than a _kiss_, and it barely even lasted two seconds, so I thought maybe that meant it didn't count.

Frustrated and still reeling from confusion and shock, I shook my head and imagined I was shaking off all that had happened tonight. I had somehow let myself feel more emotions tonight than I had in years, and it was high time that I reconstruct and reinforce the walls around me. . . . and maybe throw in a moat filled with some hungry crocodiles and sharks, just to be safe.

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**Second A/N: Thanks again! I really appreciate those of you who stick with me and this story, and I'll see y'all next week! :) **


	12. My First Vision Comes True

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**Disclaimer: Lady Rowling is brilliant and amazing and owns everything except for my characters and the plot of this story!**

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**[Sam]**

"Welcome, all you hotties, nerds, and tools- er, sorry Professor. I mean all you. . . _lovely students_ to the kickoff of the Quidditch season!" I rolled my eyes when I heard Teddy's voice magically enhanced to fill the gigantic Quidditch pitch. Teddy was one of four announcers (one from each House) for Quidditch games, and apparently he had been chosen by Headmaster Shay to announce today's game, which probably wasn't the best decision on Shay's part; we were playing Slytherin, and Teddy tended to be a _very_ biased and opinionated commentator.

"Oi! Listen up, Gryffs," James said to the team while we were waiting under the stands for the game to start. We all gathered in a close huddle, which was about the closest to a hug that my teammates would ever get from me. What? I'm just not that into public displays of affection, okay?

"Now I know that this is the first game of the season, but it's also one of the most important," James continued. "We're playing those bloody cheating snakes, and we all know how they don't always play nice. However, we've been training hard, and I'm confident that we can give them a beat-down the likes of which no one's ever seen before." We all nodded enthusiastically, and Roxanne stroked her Beater's bat lovingly, looking excited to be able to finally use it.

"So. Chasers," James looked to Lily, Evan Watson (Louise's seventh-year boyfriend), and Connor Hutchison (also a seventh-year, who wore glasses with bright orange rims that clashed horribly with Gryffindor red and also had an infectious laugh), "remember those Figure Eight hand-off maneuvers you've been working on, and don't be afraid to get a bit physical out there, since we know that Slytherin Chasers and Beaters will be trying to knock you off your brooms every chance they get. Beaters," he now looked to Roxanne and Dominique, "you know what to do. Protect me and the Chasers at all costs, but don't hesitate to defend yourselves, either. If the timing's right, you can try out the new Double Whammy move, but only use it as a last resort, because we don't want to give up one of our best plays from the start if we don't have to. And Sam," James met my eyes and gave me a small smile, "just do what you do best. You have a good intuition, so go with it, but watch out for trick plays. Now let's go win a Quidditch game!"

James stuck his right hand into the middle of the huddle, and then we all piled our right hands on top of his. We threw our hands down as one and shouted "Gryffs kick-!" The girls filled in the missing three-letter word by each smacking our right hip, while the guys (being too macho) just clapped once instead as we broke the huddle. Sure it was a bit odd, but hey, it worked, and we sure as heck weren't going to change it while I was a part of this team.

Amped up and ready to win, we walked out one-by-one onto the Quidditch pitch and took our places as Teddy announced our names. "First up for the Lions, we've got Seeker, Captain, prankster, and one of my best mates, James Potter!" James strutted out with a blinding smile as he waved to the crowd and took a couple laps on his broom, being the show-off that he was. I couldn't help but notice five girls in the crowd (I wasn't sure who they were) had taken it upon themselves to spell James' name across their bare stomachs, which they were proudly bearing now. I did _not_ envy James his crazed female fan club, that's for sure.

"Next we've got the trio of Chasers that are seventh-years Evan Watson and Connor Hutchison, along with the feisty little spitfire that is Lily Potter. Hands off, fellas, if you know what's good for you," Teddy added, rightfully so, as Lily was also beginning to acquire her own fan club.

"Then the Beaters, two of my favorite relatives, the red-headed female power duo of Roxanne Weasley and Dominique Weasley!" They entered the field together, and then it was just me. I had to admit, I was more concerned about how Teddy would announce me than I was the game.

"And, last but still first in my book, the Gryffindor Keeper and opinionated ginger that I may or may not be dating, Sam Malfoy!" _Oh no he didn't! _I heard oohs and aws from the crowd as I stormed onto the pitch and flew straight up to the section of the stands where the professors (and Teddy) were seated.

I hovered right in front of Teddy, glaring at him with as much anger as I could. All the color seemed to fade out of his hair and his face even paled a bit too. I simply sat there with my arms crossed over my chest, refusing to blink or waver in my glare until that boy apologized.

Teddy cleared his throat and the color returned to his face and hair as he said, "I may have been speaking out of line. . . ." I raised an eyebrow (a move my brother taught me when we were younger and actually got along). ". . . when I said that she was an opinionated ginger!" Teddy finished with a smirk and I threw my hands up let out an exasperated shout before flying back to my rightful position, but I noticed he stuck out his tongue at me as I left. Git.

I realized that most of the crowd was laughing now, and I flushed under all the attention. Great, now the whole bloody school certainly thought Teddy and I were an item, even though most of them had probably assumed that anyways, thanks to a certain golden-eyed someone's crazy antics.

"Women!" Teddy laughed, and one of the professors nudged him. "Oh, right. Back to being serious now. And for the Snakes, who are going to lose- come on, we all know it's true! Anyways, we have the Seeker sibling rivalry as Albus Potter faces off against his older brother!" James' brother entered the field with the cool poise of a true Slytherin but (thankfully) was not as big of a show-off as James had been. I did notice that Albus had almost as big of a fan base as James, even though James' fans from the crowd had mostly been wearing red, while Albus was being cheered on by students from _both _Houses.

"For the Chasers in green, there's seventh-year Zinnia Larkin, fifth-year Lucas West, and sixth-year Captain, Scorpius Malfoy! We've got two sibling match-ups, folks, which should make for a very exciting game!" I scowled as my twin entered the field. I hated playing my brother. On one hand, we sometimes played at home, so I knew all of his favorite tricks, but on the other hand, we sometimes played at home, so he knew all of my tricks, too. It pained me to admit that we were pretty much an even match for each other. Pained me because we were quite competitive and I felt that I was the better Quidditch player.

_Wait a minute. . . ._ A certain thought cheered me up immensely. _Scor was completely drunk last night. . . . which means he's probably got the worst hangover ever right now! _I smiled brightly. If Scor truly was hungover, this game would be a piece of cake.

"And for the Beaters, there's fifth-years Riley Kirk and the Italian princess, Lydia Milani." I started, my smile fading away. _Lydia plays Quidditch?_ _Perfect, just perfect._ Her brown hair was pulled back into an intricate braid that swung to match her swaying walk (how could anyone _sway_ in a Quidditch uniform?). She ignored the catcalls she received from the stands and kept her nose in the air as she gracefully (what Beater was _graceful_?) mounted her broom and then stopped right in front of Dominique, who actually snarled. Dominique wasn't someone you messed with once she had a bat in her hand.

Teddy then announced the Slytherin Keeper, fifth-year Wes Zabini, a short boy with a dark complexion who came from a family like mine that had 'old money', as my grandparents liked to put it.

Then the Snitch, Bludgers, and the Quaffle were released by Madame Burke (Madame Hooch's daughter, because apparently there was something about female referees at Hogwarts) and the game began.

"Lily dives right in and takes possession of the Quaffle, with Watson and Hutchison right on her heels as they fly towards the Slytherin hoops. Watch out! Oh, a bludger sent by Milani almost hits Female Potter in the face, and she was forced to drop the Quaffle. Slytherin Chaser Larkin snatches it up and heads towards Ginger Malfoy!" Why did he have to call me that? Mark my words, Teddy would hear from me later.

Larkin threw the Quaffle past Evan and to my brother, who dived under Lydia as she deflected a Bludger sent by Roxanne. I narrowed my eyes, watching and waiting as Scor zoomed towards me from the other side of the field. Lily and Connor tried to cut him off, but right before collision, Scor threw the Quaffle straight up and to Lucas West, who had dropped from above to catch the ball. The Slytherin crowd cheered loudly, and despite my feelings towards the Slytherin team, I had to admit that it was an impressive move.

"What a surprising yet sneaky move! You've got to give Slytherin style points on that one." Teddy said. "Now it's West with the Quaffle, shooting straight through Gryffindor's defenses. West passes to Blond Malfoy, who lines himself up to take a shot at the Gryffindor hoops. Let's hope his sister can block it!"

I zoned Teddy and the crowd out as I watched my brother. He had the Quaffle tucked in on his left side and appeared to be heading straight for the middle hoop, and I knew he wouldn't pass it off now. His pride was too big for him to let one of his teammates score and take he glory instead of him. He fainted towards the left and then threw the ball at the right hoop, but I was ready for it. I shot down and twisted to the left, using the back of my broom to knock the Quaffle right into Lily's ready arms.

"A BRILLIANT BLOCK BY SAM MALFOY! Ha! Nice try, Slytherin! You can't score that easily!" Teddy's voice mixed with the shouts and cheers of the Gryffindor students (and some from other Houses), and I grinned and stuck my hand in the air in a thumbs-up. This feeling was why I played Quidditch.

I hovered in front of the hoops again, watching as the Chasers and Beaters from both teams flew around in streaks of green and red, with the Quaffle and Bludgers flying back and forth just as quickly. Closing my eyes and tilting my head back to soak in the sun, I suddenly got the strangest sense of deja vu.

My head snapped down and my eyes darted frantically around the pitch. I knew this scene. . . it was one of my dream-visions. The one where a Gryffindor player fell off their broom and slammed straight into the ground.

I swore loudly, although I couldn't even hear the sound of my own voice over the roar of the crowd and Teddy's energetic commentary. If this was from a vision, that meant it had to come true, which meant one of my teammates would fall and die at any moment.

I barely noticed when Lily scored a goal, and then Evan scored twice a few minutes later. Luckily for me, Gryffindor had kicked up their defenses and were keeping the Quaffle on the Slytherin side. I wouldn't have been able to stop a shot from Slytherin, as I was too busy trying to watch all of my teammates at once.

"THE POTTERS HAVE SEEN THE SNITCH!" Teddy shouted, and the crowd focused their attention on James and Albus, who were diving out of the sky and chasing each other around the pitch. At one point, the Snitch flew right past my face, and I moved out of the way just as Albus zoomed by with James by his side but a hair behind him.

Still trying to watch all of my teammates, I saw Larkin too late, and she easily threw the Quaffle through my left hoop. "Ten points for Slytherin," Teddy sounded sour, but the Slytherin crowd went crazy. "That makes it thirty to ten, Gryffindor, but either Potter could catch the Snitch at this point!"

I scowled, angry at myself for letting Slytherin score and being distracted by the Seekers, but all my thoughts faded to the background as I saw Albus and James diving almost straight down for the Snitch. They both pulled back up at the last second, but I still had a mini heart-attack. I had thought that James was going to smack into the ground like the person from my vision.

Lily scored another goal, and I forced myself to calm down. I watched James like a hawk as he and Albus flew around the pitch and even under the stands. They both arced up out of the stands, flying higher, higher, higher until they were just specks in the sky. Then they rocketed back down, fighting gravity and flying at an extreme speed. Albus was still in the lead, and he leveled out when he reached the top of the stands. James followed him, but instead of leveling out, he kept going.

_NO! _I shot forward towards James, not caring about the game anymore as I watched his head dip down and his grip go slack on his broom. I knew I wouldn't make it to him in time, but I had to try. He slipped off his broom and dropped through the air like stone. Everything slowed down around me as he plummeted straight down, not even trying to resist the fall.

Albus held the Snitch in his hand, reveling in his victory, but when he turned around, he dropped it and a look of panic flashed across his face before he followed my lead and flew towards his brother.

_James. . . . _I had to reach him, had to stop his fall, but I was too far away, and he was falling too fast.

"JAMES!" I screamed and reached out towards him. He was only ten feet from the ground. . . . eight, and the crowd stood up to see what was happening. . . seven, and Lily screamed too, along with a few members of the crowd. . . five feet away, and we were unable to do anything but watch in horror. . . three feet away, and I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I couldn't, I _wouldn't_ watch James hit the ground.

When I thought he would hit the ground, I listened. . . . nothing. _What? _I hesitantly opened one eye, then the other as I beheld the sight before me.

James was lying sprawled on the ground, not moving, his legs and right arm all bent at unnatural angles. I choked back my tears and flew down to the ground, running straight towards him as soon as my feet touched the grass.

Albus and Lily were already crouched next to James, and my legs gave out underneath me when I reached the three Potters. I realized I was trembling and shaking uncontrollably, and Lily put her arm around me while Albus held one of my hands between both of his.

They tried to tell me that it was okay, everything was okay, but I couldn't hear anything over the ringing in my ears.

I was numb. I couldn't feel anything anymore. It was just the ringing and James. Funny, determined, confident, honest James. I felt like I should be crying, but no tears would come. I felt so empty, so, so empty. Why wasn't I crying? I brought my hands up as if to wipe my eyes, when really I was checking for tears. Nothing. Did that make me an awful person, that I couldn't even shed a tear for one of my best friends? Or did I even deserve to be called a human anymore, since I seemed unable to feel any emotions? No, I could _feel _emotions, but _showing_ them was where I feel short. So I was only half of a person. And since I was also a ginger, I was told I didn't have a soul anyways, so where did that leave me?

Just the ringing, the empty hole in my heart, and James lying there in front of me.

Something shifted beside me, and I was able to process Lily turning around and looking over her shoulder, where Headmaster Shay was running towards us.

"Headmaster," I said, pushing myself to my feet and away from Lily and Albus. And James. I swayed a bit and Shay put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. "It's my fault. I knew this would happen, but I did nothing and now he's dead! It's all my fault!" I yelled hysterically.

"No it's not," Shay tried to reassure me. I barely heard him through the ringing in my ears, louder than ever. And the emptiness, like a black hole inside me. "And Mister Potter isn't dead."

"How can you say that? Of course it's my fault! Look at him! Just expel me! That's why you came down here, isn't it?" I couldn't think straight. I was surprised I could even make coherent sentences at this point.

"Miss Malfoy, I am not here to expel you. And I assure you, your friend is not dead." Shay lead me over to James, still holding on to my shoulder, and we knelt down by Albus and Lily. James still looked quite dead to me, with his limbs splayed at odd angles and his skin the palest I'd ever seen it. The Headmaster took my hand and placed it on James' chest.

"Now tell me, does he feel dead?" Shay asked gently, and sure enough, James was still warm, and I could just barely feel a faint and irregular heartbeat.

"How?. . ." I trailed off, pushing James' unruly hair out of his face, still in shock that he wasn't dead. The ringing, it was slowly fading away, and now I could hear the gasps and unnatural silence that had fallen over everyone.

"I reacted quickly enough to put a Cushioning Charm on the area where he landed, but I couldn't bring him to a complete stop, so he will suffer a few injuries from the speed of his fall, but nothing he can't recover from." Shay left me then, and magically enhanced his voice so he could relay that information to everyone else.

Albus and Lily came back over to me, and it was my turn to give Albus' hand a comforting squeeze and put my arm around Lily's thin shoulders. Even Albus shed a couple tears of joy that his brother was going to make it, and the empty feeling inside me lessened but didn't quite disappear.

Then the rest of my team ran over to us after hearing the Headmaster's announcement, and there was a lot of hugging and relieved crying that was echoed by the people in the stands. I helped Lily and Albus lift James up, and together we carried him off the field and back to the Hospital Wing.

Madame Pomfrey had retired last year so her trainee, Tabitha Ross, worked in her place. Madame Ross let out a squeak when she saw the three of us carrying a limp James into the room. She had seen James in there plenty of times the past years, but not in this bad of condition before.

She fussed over us and James as Albus, Lily, and I gently laid him down on a bed. Then Madame Ross avoided our questions and simply ordered us to leave, which we reluctantly did, as she looked like she'd use any means necessary to make us leave.

A subdued silence settled over the three of us as we closed the door behind us. Albus leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, while Lily and I sat on the floor with our backs on the cold wall. Lily pulled her knees into her chest and rested her head on them, suddenly looking very innocent and childlike, while I stretched my long legs out in front of me and crossed my hands behind my head and closed my eyes to rest for a little bit. It was nice to just sit and relax now that all the craziness was over and since I knew James would be alright, and the empty feeling had almost completely gone away. All of my adrenaline had worn off by now, and I was left with feeling much the same as the crash after a sugar high.

"Why were you telling Shay that it was your fault?" Albus asked me nonchalantly. I opened my right eye and glanced up at him, noticing that despite his relaxed posture, his green eyes were sharp with interest. They reminded me of a leopard's calculating stare as it watched its prey and crouched, ready to strike at any sign of weakness. Sometimes James and Albus were so in-sync that it was scary, but right now, Albus looked every bit the Slytherin he was.

"It's complicated." I sighed, considering if I should tell James' siblings about my future-telling psychic abilities. Albus rolled his eyes at my non-answer, while Lily's big blue eyes seemed to see straight through me. "Okay, can you two keep a secret? I don't even think Scor knows about this." Lily nodded enthusiastically, and I thought I even saw her blushing slightly- maybe I'd ask her about that later, if I didn't forget amidst everything else in my life right now. On my other side, Albus simply raised an eyebrow in an expression that clearly meant "of course". I hadn't thought about telling my brother until now, though I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea or not. Probably not.

"Alrighty then," I sighed again and looked at a spot straight in front of me, unable to meet either of their eyes. "I'll give you the short version and keep this brief. This summer, I kept having the same strange dreams over and over again, no big deal. Until the day we left for Hogwarts, I got the worst headache of my life and almost blacked out twice that same day. Turns out my mum had these visions of the future that started when she was my age and continued until Scor and I were born. Which means the dreams I had were the result of my inherited ability to see glimpses of the future. And one of the visions I had was at a Slytherin vs Gryffindor Quidditch match, and the match ended with one of the Gryffs falling off their broom and hitting the ground. So it was my fault that James fell because I knew about it and I still couldn't stop it from happening." My voice was harsh and bitter now, and I looked down at my hands, which were folded in my lap, not wanting to see the looks of disgust and anger I knew would be on Albus' and Lily's faces.

"Oh, Sam. That sounds awful! I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Lily wrapped me up in a warm hug, her long red hair falling like a curtain around my face, and I suddenly longed for my mum.

"You're. . . you're not mad at me?" I managed, still touched that neither of them had walked away or spat angry words in my face or worse.

"Of course not. You weren't prepared for any of this to happen, and I'm sure James would understand, too." Albus put his hand on my shoulder and sat on the other side of me, becoming very James-esque in a heart beat.

I looked at both of them gratefully, and Lily looked ready to cry again. I got the feeling that she was a very emotional girl, like I had heard her mother was.

"Is she always this emotional?" I whispered to Albus as Lily dried her eyes on the neck of her shirt.

"No. She's usually worse." Albus laughed and then snorted, which made me start laughing too, and then Lily joined in as well. It felt good to laugh and release all the tension within me.

A random Ravenclaw student walked past us and gave the three of us such a concerned yet disgusted and condescending look that I couldn't help but smile cheerily and wave at her as Albus and Lily tried to stifle their laughter behind their hands. She walked a little faster after that, and once the end of her ponytail disappeared around the corner, the three of us busted up laughing again, and I had the most pleasant feeling that I had made two new friends in Albus and Lily.

Later that night after a dinner that mainly consisted of me goofing off with Fred and Teddy and even Lily, who left her friends and came and sat by me for a while. I also tried very hard to avoid both Marvin (because of the strange kiss from last night) and Mike (because of our row that was also from last night), which was easier said than done. Marvin apparently thought he was my second shadow and seemed to be around every corner, probably wanting to talk about "us" (I wasn't sure I wanted there to be an "us"), while Mike was just hard to avoid because I was friends with many members of his extensive family.

Speaking of Mike's family, I stayed out late in the Common Room that night playing Wizard's Chess in a giant tournament that involved all the Gryffindor Potters and Weasleys. Their family took the game _extremely_ seriously, and I was knocked out of the running by Mike's little brother, Hugo, in the second round. I still had fun cheering my friends on from the sidelines with Teddy, who had been beaten by Molly in the third round. The final round ended up with Mike vs Lucy (Molly would've been in the finals, but she had gone to bed like a good student and therefore forfeited), although the underdog, Lucy, managed to best Mike in ten moves, which was a new record. It also made me happy that Mike lost to his younger cousin, and I refused the childish urge to go and shout "HA!" right in his face.

Let's just say that Mike's pride was wounded that night, and Lucy was hailed as the new Queen of Wizard's Chess. I had never felt more like I was part of an actual family before, and I had to admit, I loved every minute of it. Everyone in their family (except for Mike, who I was still avoiding) had been so welcoming towards me. They made me feel like I actually _belonged_, whereas my own brother often excluded me and shut me out of his life. My father sometimes did that as well, though he didn't realize it, and it made our small family feel disjointed most of the time. It was funny to me that I fit in so well with the family of Father's Hogwarts nemesis, Harry Potter.

"I would say good job, but you're not all that great at Wizard's Chess, love," Teddy said to me with a cheeky grin as we sat together on one of the couches after everyone else had gone off to bed.

In answer, I smacked the back of his head. He yelped and I couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, you think that's funny," Teddy said, and I nodded as I bit my lip to keep from smiling. "You are going to get it, Sam Malfoy!" He reached out to grab my waist, but I jumped up and stuck my tongue out at him. His eyes widened, and then narrowed as he tried to catch me again.

I ran around the other side of the couch and propped my head in my hands. "Try a little harder next time, darling," I drawled dryly, then squealed and darted away as Teddy and I switched places. He was now stuck behind the couch, his eyes glinting mischievously, and I was standing in front of it, grinning playfully. He fainted left, then ran right, and we chased each other around like fools a few more times before he finally caught me around the waist and made me sit back down on the couch.

Before I could react, he started tickling my ribs and my stomach, right where he knew I was most ticklish, and I laughed and tried to make him stop, to no avail. When I began to gasp for air because I was laughing so hard, he finally stopped, and our eyes locked as I struggled to get my breathing back to a normal rate. Gray eyes stared into gold, and Teddy leaned towards me slightly, like he was going to kiss me. . . .

I cleared my throat loudly and shot to my feet, the silence between us suddenly becoming awkward, something that had never happened with us before. I noticed Teddy's hair had turned slightly pink, and my own cheeks were burning furiously. I looked everywhere but him, and he seemed to be doing the same to me.

"Well, goodnight, Sam," Teddy finally said curtly as he stood up, staring at me with his face uncharacteristically blank, his eyes a dark brown instead of the color of liquid gold. He looked like he wanted to say more, but then decided not to and left.

"Goodnight, Teddy," I said softly to the air before walking to my room. I shut my door behind me and turned off the light, then flopped face down onto my bed with a groan. I was too mentally and emotionally exhausted to entertain thoughts of Teddy and I being more than friends.

"Gah! Boys!" I shouted, frustrated, and punched the bed beside me. After letting out that small burst of anger, my fatigue returned at full force, so I rolled onto my right side and shut my eyes, startled to hear a faint rustling sound as I did so. I lazily felt around my head, where I thought the noise had come from, and was surprised to touch what felt like a scrap of parchment. _Oh no oh no oh no oh no._

I quickly shot up and turned on the lights to see my suspicions were correct. I was holding a piece of old parchment that matched the two pieces sitting in my desk drawer- the letters I had received from The Sphinx. With my stomach in my throat and trembling hands, I unfolded the parchment to be greeted by that familiarly unfamiliar script.

_Sam,_

_It's too bad that the Potter boy survived. I was quite looking forward to watching him the hit the ground. However, I assure you that next time there will be no one around to save the day, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me from completing my mission._

_-The Sphinx_

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**A/N: I really, _really _loved writing this chapter! It was uber fun to write a Quidditch game, and it was also uber intense in general! But anyways, I just wanted to give a heads-up: my posts might be a bit more sporadic since I'm moving out to college this weekend (yay!), and I don't know how much time I'll have to write once classes start. However, I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY. I still have a few plans for my lovely characters... *evil laugh* So thank _you, _dear reader for reading this whole note and for just being awesome in general. Let me know what you're thinking in a message or a review, and stay classy! ;) **


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